Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL; DR
- YouTube is testing a new landscape layout for Android that is better optimized and has less free space.
- The updated layout is available to some users, but not widely used.
YouTube is one of them best android apps there and most of us are connected enough to spend quite a lot of money per month YouTube Premium subscription. The service has plenty of room for improvement, though, and one of those is how the app works on wider aspect ratios, such as on landscape-oriented phones and larger-screen foldables and tablets. Google seems to have focused on this landscape experience, as we’ve seen some improvements over what’s available in the YouTube app for Android.
Moment APK uninstall helps predict features that may come into service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted functions may not be publicly available.
Currently, YouTube is well optimized for use on Android flagships in portrait orientation. But when you use the YouTube app in landscape orientation, or on foldable devices and tablets with larger screens, you’re just presented with a landscape layout that rotates the portrait layout. It’s a lazy way to build a landscape-oriented experience, and it’s one step ahead of turning off landscape orientation entirely.
Here’s how YouTube currently looks in landscape orientation and collapsibles:
AssembleDebug / Android Authority
As you can see in the current layout, channel updates appear in the top row and your subscription feed appears below it. It looks cramped and busy because all the UI elements are trying to find space on the vertical Y-axis, while the horizontal X-axis is wasting space.
Here is a video demo of the YouTube app:
As you can see, you need to select channels from the top updates panel to view their activity. Notice how the video listings take up the entire screen with very large thumbnails.
With YouTube v19.50.36, Google is testing some UI changes that optimize the landscape orientation experience on phones and larger screen foldable devices and tablets. We saw the change when it was collapsible, and here’s what the optimized layout might look like in the future:
AssembleDebug / Android Authority
As you can see, the subscription feed is better positioned in the upcoming layout. Channel updates are on the left side of the navigation, and videos are in the second column. It also fixes the thumbnail size, significantly reduces wasted space and makes navigation and scrolling easier in the UI.
Moving channel updates to the left navigation bar also clears the channel updates view. Google further reduces white space by adopting a two-column layout, although this may depend on device width.
AssembleDebug / Android Authority
Video demo showing the design changes of the subscription tab:
The whole experience feels significantly better in landscape orientation, with more information available on screen. It no longer seems like an afterthought to the practice of portraiture. Even if you’re using a traditional Android phone, this optimized layout is good enough to not force you to juggle between swiping to portrait for the Subscriptions tab and then back to landscape for the full-screen video player. You can use the YouTube app in fixed landscape orientation and get a great experience.
This optimized landscape layout for YouTube is being tested. Some users may be part of this test, but we don’t see any signs of a wider rollout yet. We’ll keep you posted when we have more information.
Source link
