YouTube Brandishes New Logo, Overhauled Mobile App And Desktop Interface

There are plenty of places for cord cutters to get their entertainment fix without having to shell out a hundred dollars per month or more for cable or satellite service. YouTube is one of those places, and it has been working hard to overhaul its mobile apps and websites to make them better and easier to use for its millions of fans. YouTube says that when it launched 12 years ago only on video format was supported and that was small 320x240 4:3 aspect ratio.

To keep up with changing times, YouTube has rolled out a new logo and is talking up some changes coming to both the mobile app and the desktop website. 

One of the biggest changes is that the navigation tabs have moved to the bottom of the app so they are closer to the thumbs. The header is also white so the video takes the lead. YouTube is working to bring expanded gesture support to the mobile app, which already allows users to double tap on the right or left side of the video for fast forward or rewinding 10 seconds at a time. The next gesture added to the mobile app will be a swipe gesture for moving between videos with a swipe of the hand left or right.

Mobile users will also get the ability to speed up or slow down a video, something that desktop users have already been able to do. Mobile app users will also "soon" get a player that will change shape to match the video format you are watching. That means a YouTube player that is vertical, square, or horizontal depending on the format you are watching. The big thing here is that vertical videos will play with no black bars on the side. Mobile users will also get an area below the player that allows for browsing of videos in new way, while you are watching a video.

YouTube also plans changes to the desktop player, it wrote, "Looking beyond the YouTube app, we've also been working on a new desktop design. And thanks to all the positive feedback, we're now excited to make it available to all our users around the globe starting today! Our new look applies Material Design to YouTube and delivers a fresh, simple and intuitive user experience that lets content shine – because there's nothing more important than the creators and videos we all love to watch. My favorite feature of this new desktop design is Dark Theme, which turns the background dark while you watch for a more cinematic look."

YouTube doesn't spell out when all the changes to the mobile app and desktop will land, but that new logo is rolling out to mobile and desktop users now. YouTube makes no mention of the mobile app getting improved streaming capabilities on mobile networks now that Verizon Is throttling video to 720p or less.