YouTube is gradually testing its video controller UI. The update is being applied sequentially to various devices, including desktop and mobile, as well as smart TV apps, and the wide range of changes is attracting attention from users.
The new UI has been reorganized around a pill-like shape. Previously, all the control buttons were concentrated in a semi-transparent bar at the bottom of the video, but in the new interface, each function button is separated and placed in an independent pill shape. Major functions such as play, pause, timestamp, and chapter movement are each separate. The design has been applied to Google’s latest design guideline, Material Design 3, and the buttons and background have been transformed into a more rounded and transparent shape. This is in line with the design changes introduced in Google Drive and the YouTube TV app, and can be interpreted as part of YouTube’s strategy to increase the consistency of its overall service design.
The volume icon, which used to be located at the bottom left, has been moved to the bottom right, and the operation method has also changed from a horizontal slider to a vertical slider. It seems to have been designed with intuitive operation on touch screens in mind, but the volume control function using the mouse scroll, which was previously provided on the web, has disappeared, causing inconvenience to some users.
In addition, buttons for additional functions such as subtitles, quality, and settings have been grouped together at the bottom right. Changes have also been applied to the YouTube TV app, with channels, subscriptions, and video descriptions now concentrated on one side of the screen, and the video size slightly reduced to allow for a structure that allows you to see a variety of information at a glance.
However, user reactions to these changes are mixed. While there are positive evaluations that the new design is modern and clean, there are also many voices that say it is inconvenient compared to the existing UI that they have been familiar with for a long time. In particular, there are critical opinions about the changes in the volume control function and the fact that the buttons are distributed. Some users say that there are functional inconveniences after the update and that an improvement patch is needed, while others say that they will naturally adapt over time.
