Google likes to have fun with YouTube like a person who can’t stop scratching. Unlike the changes to Google Maps that are actually useful, some of the changes to YouTube appear to have been made for no real reason. Recently, the web version of the video stream moved from square corners to rounded corners on the thumbnails and video player, and feedback from YouTube users hasn’t been very favorable.
It now appears that YouTube is making the same change to videos on the YouTube Android app. According to Android Police, it obtained a screenshot showing the rounded corners of YouTube thumbnails. The result is more blinding white light in the background, which might cause some users to turn on the dark theme. On Android, open the YouTube app and tap the profile photo in the upper right corner. Then tap Settings > General > Appearance. A pop-up box will ask you to choose between device theme, light theme, or dark theme. Make your choice.
The current appearance of the YouTube Android app is on the left; thumbnails of the new look are visible on the right
Since the rounded corners extend to the video player on the web and not just the thumbnails, we can assume that this will be the case for the Android app as well. As of now, the new look hasn’t rolled out to many Android devices and it hasn’t yet appeared on my Pixel 6 Pro running Android 14 Beta 5.3.
On the YouTube site, rounded corners do not appear when watching a video in full screen or Theater mode. But once you go back to the default view, they come back. We’re not sure when Google plans to roll out this feature more widely to Android users and whether it will also continue to cut corners on the iOS YouTube app.
If you don’t have the YouTube app on your Android phone, you can download it now from the Google Play Store by tapping this link. If you want to install YouTube on your iOS device, click this link.
Google likes to have fun with YouTube like a person who can’t stop scratching. Unlike the changes to Google Maps that are actually useful, some of the changes to YouTube appear to have been made for no real reason. Recently, the web version of the video stream moved from square corners to rounded corners on the thumbnails and video player, and feedback from YouTube users hasn’t been very favorable.
It now appears that YouTube is making the same change to videos on the YouTube Android app. According to Android Police, it obtained a screenshot showing the rounded corners of YouTube thumbnails. The result is more blinding white light in the background, which might cause some users to turn on the dark theme. On Android, open the YouTube app and tap the profile photo in the upper right corner. Then tap Settings > General > Appearance. A pop-up box will ask you to choose between device theme, light theme, or dark theme. Make your choice.
The current appearance of the YouTube Android app is on the left; thumbnails of the new look are visible on the right
Since the rounded corners extend to the video player on the web and not just the thumbnails, we can assume that this will be the case for the Android app as well. As of now, the new look hasn’t rolled out to many Android devices and it hasn’t yet appeared on my Pixel 6 Pro running Android 14 Beta 5.3.
On the YouTube site, rounded corners do not appear when watching a video in full screen or Theater mode. But once you go back to the default view, they come back. We’re not sure when Google plans to roll out this feature more widely to Android users and whether it will also continue to cut corners on the iOS YouTube app.
If you don’t have the YouTube app on your Android phone, you can download it now from the Google Play Store by tapping this link. If you want to install YouTube on your iOS device, click this link.
