what you need to know
- YouTube is testing a redesigned video player on the web that moves titles and comments to the sidebar.
- The site’s social media accounts confirmed that the new view is only a test for now.
- Users expressed disdain for the feature, with YouTube advising them to submit feedback through its website.
YouTube is experimenting with new ways to display video players on the web, and the latest approach could represent one of the biggest UI changes in years. At the beginning of this month, YouTube Shorts started appearing in the recommended video sidebar for some users. Now, for a limited number of users, a more drastic change is unfolding. The latest redesign test moves the title, description, and comments to the sidebar, and recommended videos below the currently playing video.
While this UI change is indeed just a test, users aren’t excited about it right now. The redesign attracted attention from all major social media sites, including X (formerly Twitter), Threads, and Reddit. Brian Hamilton, a user on Threads, shared a screenshot of the visual overhaul and received more than 100 mostly negative responses.
The benefit of this change seems to be that you can see more video titles, comments, and descriptions. Meanwhile, less recommended videos will appear on the same page as the content you’re playing. YouTube showed three recommended videos with larger thumbnails and titles in this test, rather than a long list of recommended videos with smaller thumbnails and titles.
However, user reaction to the change was similar to the last time YouTube tested YouTube Shorts. In both cases, we found that the larger thumbnails of the recommended videos distracted from the main content.
Jump in! It sounds like you’re seeing an experimental/test feature. YouTube’s diff team is constantly testing new ways to improve functionality and experience. You can share your feedback here: https://t.co/NnQpe4fbHH Additionally, you can view recent experiments here: https://t.co/p3uu6MOOr2April 10, 2024
The Team on X YouTube account clarified that this is an experimental testing feature and is not yet rolled out to everyone. The account recommended that users submit feedback through their YouTube account.To do this, users click on their profile picture on the YouTube website and select send feedback.Once you’ve finished writing your feedback or adding a screenshot, you can click send Submit your ideas to Google.
While the redesigned YouTube video player isn’t available to every user and Google account on the web, the social media buzz surrounding the change suggests it’s somewhat widespread. YouTube appears to be testing some new ways to improve the web video player at the moment, so we’ll be interested to see which, if any, of these tests survive.