The YouTube app has just been updated with one of the biggest changes of the year. The service has struggled with a confusing design and functionality in its mini player, but this has been addressed with a major redesign. These changes are already being rolled out in the Android app, so if you open the service now, you may already be able to enjoy the new feature.
Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
What do we mean by mini player? It’s the area at the bottom that appears when you’re watching a video and want to keep browsing the app. The main playback moves to the bottom of the screen with a small window on the left and some simple controls on the right. You can still hear and watch the video while browsing the interface, but the quality has been quite poor.
Well, this is the design that has just changed. YouTube has replaced the bottom bar with a window similar to Android’s Picture-in-Picture system. When you download or minimize a video, playback is now shown in a small square area that is much more suited to the video format.
Additionally, YouTube has integrated a series of more useful controls that allow you to pause the video, resume it, and skip forward or backward by 10 seconds. Moreover, YouTube now lets you move this mini window to any part of the interface, preventing it from blocking important areas. You can even adjust its size through the app’s settings.
This new mini YouTube window is for everyone.
Surprisingly, YouTube has launched this feature for all users. Initially, when it was discovered in the app, many thought the design update would be exclusive to Premium users. However, it turns out that anyone, whether they pay for the service or not, will be able to enjoy it.
You don’t have to do anything for this feature to arrive; it will come automatically without needing to update the app. When it is implemented, you’ll see a brief tutorial-style introduction to the new features, so you’ll know when it’s available for the first time.
If you’re reading this on an iPhone, there’s some bad news: the new redesign is only available for Android phones. As for any model? In principle, yes, all devices in the Google ecosystem should be able to use this new YouTube design.
