YouTube is amongst the giants of the internet, and over the years, it has created a massive community that depends and even lives on it.
As the brainchild of Steve Chen and others, YouTube has been around since 2005. Over the years, the platform has undergone numerous changes because its owner, Google, knows that remaining stagnant in the tech world is a recipe for disaster.
In the modern world where people use social media, Google wants YouTube to keep up with the growing demands, and to remain competitive, especially when pretty much of its younger users are still on TikTok and Instagram.
This time, YouTube introduces an "updated look and feel" that should give the platform a refreshed appeal "that offer a more modern and immersive viewing experience while also improving how users watch videos."
First up, is a tweaked color palette.
Here, YouTube introduces what it calls the 'Ambient Mode' which uses dynamic color to match the app's background color with the color of the video being viewed.
The enhancement isn't very pronounced, because it only applies subtle changes to the colors. But regardless, it's only meant for aesthetic.
Then, YouTube also tweaked its dark theme, which is made even darker.
According to YouTube, this is to make "colors truly pop on your screen."
Next, YouTube is also making improvements to bring the focus back to the viewing experience.
The most noticeable change, would be the YouTube links in video descriptions, which have been tweaked to become buttons. YouTube also reformatted the Like, share and download action buttons to minimize distraction.
The subscribe button is also getting a redesign, in which it is getting a pill-shaped button with a high contrast.
Also, the button is no longer red.
Then, YouTube also made changes to its video player.
"After introducing and testing several new product features on youtube.com/new earlier this year, we heard from many of you wondering when we’d make these more broadly available," said YouTube.
Here, the platform launches a pinch-to-zoom feature, and also a precise seeking ability to all users.
The pinch-to-zoom, is like what the name suggests, allow users on mobile devices to zoom in on videos so they can see more details.
And when users let go their fingers, the video stays zoomed.
This feature was initially available as a test to Premium subscribers.
And lastly, is the precisely seeking feature.
What it does, is allowing users to easily scroll to the exact part in a video. Available on desktop and mobile, users can drag the cursor or swipe up on the video to see a row of thumbnails. This helps users find the exact spot in the video they want to watch or rewatch.