YouTube's updated design brings a cleaner, fresher look and an optional dark mode

midian182

Posts: 9,662   +121
Staff member

Having spent the last year testing a new look, YouTube has now announced that anyone can now opt-in to try the revamped site, which is cleaner, simpler, and more in line with the YouTube app on mobile devices.

Based on YouTube owner Google’s design language, Material Design, there are some subtle but welcome changes to the video streaming service’s UI. There’s more white space, a lighter and smaller search bar, the blue video title links are now black, and the sidebar menu, which can now be hidden from view using the hamburger menu, is less cluttered.

The Home, Trending, and Subscriptions sections have been moved from their central position at the top of the page to the left sidebar menu. Beneath those, you’ll find Your Library and a list of each subscribed channel. The new theme also introduces infinite scrolling of recommended videos, so you’ll no longer have to click “Load More.”

Finally, there’s a Dark Mode, which, as the name suggests, can be activated to change the white background to black, making viewing videos at night easier on the eyes. The feature was developed with the help of Google’s Polymer framework, the open-source JavaScript library that can create re-useable web components.

The preview is open to everyone but it may close once a certain number of users opt-in, allowing the team to better monitor feedback. The redesign will happen automatically for about 1 percent of people, with increased rollouts every few weeks.

You can go to YouTube.com/new to try the new design.

Permalink to story.

 
I've had this for a few weeks now, I never asked for it and I'm stuffed if I can find a way to leave a comment on the videos I've watched using this "new & improved" design. It does look a lot nicer though.
 
The only annoying thing I've seen so far is that the lists got a downgrade. Before it highlighted what video you were on, now it only has a "play" icon instead of the number in the list. Don't know who thought that was a good idea...

Otherwise, it has a lot of improvements that make using it feel a bit better. Native dark theme is a big plus.
 
For whatever reason whenever I have the Dark mode feature on but then want to look at my channel or go to my Youtube Channel settings (not the Youtube general settings) it redirects me back to the "Classic" (regular white) version of Youtube. It does this in both Chrome and Firefox (which I have both up-to-date).
 
Your browser is not supported. Try it with the latest Google Chrome.

Damn I really need to ditch Firefox but the Media tab and some other bits and pieces still make it too valuable for me.
 
Your browser is not supported. Try it with the latest Google Chrome.

Damn I really need to ditch Firefox but the Media tab and some other bits and pieces still make it too valuable for me.

I said I already have both CHROME and Firefox up-to-date meaning I have the latest versions for them.
 
Awesome, thanks! Did not know about this tbf.

yeah they come up with new ones like every other month but still definitely worth installing (only for Mozilla Firefox tho, does not work on the Firefox clones like "WaterFox" or "CyperFox" which are pretty dumb if you ask me) @H3llion
 
Last edited:
Back