- Hey oh, Insiders.
Today we're here to talk about the launch of a set
of visual design updates and two highly requested features
to fostering more immersive experience
for viewers and creators on YouTube.
First, let's start with some background
about why we're making these changes.
YouTube is always evolving and
through extensive user studies and focus groups
with over 20,000 users, we learned
that there was a desire for visual changes
on YouTube that offer a cleaner, refresh design,
while staying true to the look and feel
YouTube users have come to know.
To be clear, nothing is changing functionality wise.
These are simply visual updates meant to
streamline the user experience on YouTube
as well as the addition of two new features,
which we'll get to later.
Now, let's jump into the visual changes
starting with buttons and thumbnails.
We will apply a rounded design
to all thumbnails, buttons, and channel information
throughout YouTube and the YouTube, Android, and iOS apps.
Next, in line with the changes we just mentioned,
the subscribe button will no longer be red or capitalized.
We know this is a change.
Longtime viewers of YouTube, from back when
the subscribe button was yellow, may recognize this change
as part of an evolution of the button over the years.
We've standardized the look
and feel of the subscribe button
but it will have a unique background primary color
so it stands out as the most prominent button on the page.
We're also making the subscribe button easier to find.
If you're watching a video
the subscribe button will appear closer
to the channel name on web and higher up on mobile.
For hashtags, we've removed the blue coloring and placement
of hashtags, but the functionality is not changing,
and viewers can still click on hashtags to discover content.
Your hashtags will still appear in your video description
and your videos can still appear
in search results or hashtag pages for those hashtags.
As a refresher, hashtag visibility on the watch page
has no impact on search and discovery.
Next, we're introducing a new optional setting
called Ambient Mode, which uses a lighting effect to
make watching videos in dark theme more immersive
by casting gentle colors from the video
into your screen's background.
Turn on dark mode to check out the difference
on your channel.
We're also replacing our current dark theme
with a darker version.
The new dark theme will make colors appear more vivid
and can save battery time.
Next up, those long blue YouTube URLs
in your video descriptions.
With this update, they will now be formatted
as clickable buttons that are composed of a YouTube favicon
and the title of the content.
This will apply to all YouTube video titles, channel names,
and playlists, and will make YouTube links more
easily recognizable.
Speaking of playlists, we are launching a variety
of design changes to improve the look and feel
of the playlist page.
Video playlists will adopt a similar dynamic color,
sampling treatment as ambient mode,
and will now show more details
about each playlist so viewers can easily jump right in.
Lastly, let's talk about channel memberships.
On mobile, the Join button will only be shown
after a user subscribes.
It will follow the new standard button format
and will have the same unique background primary color
as the subscribe button so that it too stands out
as the most prominent button on the page.
Due to space constraints on smaller phones, the change
was made to avoid truncating the creator's channel name.
You might be thinking, wow, those are a ton of updates.
Rest assured, our goal is
for it to come together in a subtle way
for a cleaner refresh design for creators and viewers alike.
Now let's talk about the two new features we're launching.
First up, Pinch To Zoom.
This feature will allow users to pinch to zoom in and out
of a video on mobile apps in landscape only,
let go, and then pan around the video at that depth
in order to see a specific moment in greater detail.
Secondly, precise seeking.
Today it can be difficult to seek forward
or back in a video on YouTube with the scrubber.
This new feature displays a film strip of thumbnails
below the progress bar to allow users
to find specific parts of a video.
The user enters the fine scrubbing mode by sliding up
from the progress bar after seeking was already initiated.
We will gradually begin rolling out
these design improvements to all users globally.
Pinch to zoom will be available on Android and iOS,
and Precise Seeking will be available
on Android, iOS, and desktop.
We'd love your questions and feedback in the comments below.
As always, keep it real.