YouTube, the video streaming giant, is preparing to introduce a major change that may dissatisfy many users of its Android application.
Tushar Mehta, a YouTube user, reported on X (formerly Twitter) the appearance ofA new scrolling gesture for full screen video player. This change specifically affects long-form videos, radically changing the usual user experience.
Currently, users can easily switch between full-screen and normal mode by simply swiping up or down. The new interface shakes up this well-established mechanism: swiping down will no longer minimize the video, but will directly launch the next onethus imitating the behavior of YouTube Shorts.
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This modification is already attracting strong criticism. Indeed, it ignores a fundamental difference between the consumption of long and short videos. If users tend to wear Shorts in a more relaxed manner, viewing long-form content is generally more thoughtful and selective.
The change could prove particularly frustrating on large Android smartphones, where the current ergonomics allow for smooth and intuitive navigation. Although it is still possible to use a dedicated button to exit full screen mode, this solution is less convenient than the current swipe gesture.
This new development appears to be part of a series of controversial changes at YouTube, following the recent increase in the number of advertisements and the increase in YouTube Premium prices. However, this might only be a limited test as the feature is not visible on all devices.
For the moment, YouTube has not officially communicated about this change, and no documentation or update notes have been published. We therefore hope that negative feedback will be taken into account before a possible general deployment of this function.
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