Instead of seeing an entire bar of playing videos, YouTube is now testing a redesign on its miniplayer that appears on the bottom of the screen if one wishes to minimize it. Users who take the time to scroll for new clips to add to a queue, check out other search results, or have plenty of other reasons use this feature, with the Android version of the app now previewing a possible look coming soon.
According to reports, the new miniplayer on YouTube is significantly familiar to a renowned app feature known as picture-in-picture (PiP).
YouTube Miniplayer on Android App Gets Redesign
Szabo Viktor from Unsplash
As shared by 9to5Google, YouTube for Android is currently testing a new feature on the app that offers a redesigned look for the miniplayer. Previously, users who are minimizing or dragging the video down would see it smaller and placed on the left side, bound inside a rectangular bar, and offering the video controls on the right-hand side.
Now, the redesigned multiplayer is contained in a bigger video view, with controls like pause and play or skipping 10 seconds before or ahead, appearing directly underneath it.
However, the miniplayer would still be placed in a rectangular box, but it would no longer take the entire width of the device above the tabs.
The new miniplayer look on YouTube for Android is similar to the famed Premium feature known as Picture-in-picture, only that it has a box behind it. According to the report, users may resize the miniplayer to expand it a little bit more, as well as place it in different areas of the screen by dragging it.
For now, it remains under testing and is not yet widely available for users to access on YouTube Android.
YouTube's Updates and New Features
The massive experiences on Google's renowned multimedia streaming platform, YouTube, still see continuous developments, with some introduced in beta or directly to Premium. Last month, YouTube Premium released five new features for users to enjoy, with some of these still in beta, including the likes of video skips to recommended content, PiP for Shorts, Smart Downloads, and more.
Other new features from YouTube also deliver new experiences for content creators or influencers to enjoy, particularly with a way to engage more with their fans or subscribers on the platform. YouTube introduced a new feature that allows a YouTuber to mention or tag specific users in the comments section and can be done so by using the '@' symbol and typing in the username.
The famous online video streaming platform has introduced a massive list of features for users to experience on the platform, and these are spread out in Free or Premium types of accounts. The latest from YouTube's beta testing of its features is available only on App, with the miniplayer having a new look that is no longer a bar, but similar to PiP whenever exiting the app.
