YouTube today announced a series of updates designed to improve the look and performance of the popular video player on desktop and mobile devices.


An “ambient mode” subtly changes the app’s background color to match the video being played, an effect YouTube says is designed to draw viewers into the content. Ambient mode is available on web and mobile when dark theme is enabled.

The dark theme has also been updated to be even darker than before, a change made based on user feedback.

As for the video player, YouTube links in video descriptions become buttons, and actions like share and download have been updated to minimize distractions. The subscribe button has an updated shape and color, with YouTube dropping the red tint.

A pinch-to-zoom feature is rolling out on iOS and Android devices starting today and has been tested. Users can zoom in and out on a video, and when the zoom in feature is used, the rest of the video stays zoomed in until the user zooms out again.

Precise seek has also been implemented to make it easier to rewind to a specific point in a video. Users can drag or swipe while browsing a video to see a series of thumbnails that help them find the exact part of the video they’re looking for.

According to YouTube, all of these changes will be rolled out gradually over the next few weeks.

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