YouTube’s New Web Design Sparks Widespread Backlash
▼ Summary
– YouTube has rolled out a new video player design with updated controls and icons to create a cleaner, more immersive viewing experience.
– The redesign features a more transparent interface with round floating buttons, drawing comparisons to Apple’s Liquid Glass UI.
– The changes have sparked significant user backlash, with many expressing strong dislike for the new minimalist aesthetic on platforms like Reddit.
– Users are actively seeking ways to revert to the old design, but YouTube does not offer an option to roll back the update.
– The negative reaction may partly stem from the shock of frequent changes to a familiar interface, though such complaints often diminish over time.
YouTube’s latest redesign of its video player interface has ignited a firestorm of user complaints, demonstrating how even minor visual updates to a globally recognized platform can provoke intense backlash. The company describes the new look as cleaner and more immersive, featuring updated controls, fresh icons, and a more transparent design intended to obscure less of the video content. Alongside the player overhaul, YouTube has also introduced new mobile transitions and a revised layout for comment threads.
Visually, the update draws clear inspiration from Apple’s Liquid Glass aesthetic, utilizing rounded, floating buttons and a significantly more minimal interface. While the goal was a less cluttered viewing experience, the community response has been sharply divided.
User feedback on platforms like Reddit has been overwhelmingly negative. One individual expressed a preference for the platform’s mid-2010s design, stating, “I don’t like it. I much rather prefer the UI from back in the mid-2010s. The previous UI design was meh, but I still hate it when social media companies went all in for ‘Apple minimalism’.” Another user criticized the direction more bluntly, commenting, “If you copy Apple’s ugly bullsh*t. You will end up with ugly UI that looks cheep at the same time.” A common sentiment is the loss of brand identity, with a third user noting, “Everything is starting to look like Apple, not that Apple is a bad thing, but every big company is losing their identity to something nobody ever even asked for.”
The YouTube subreddit is currently flooded with similar grievances, with many users desperately seeking methods to revert to the old interface. Unfortunately for them, the update is mandatory and cannot be rolled back by users.
This kind of strong initial reaction is not unusual for widely used digital services. When people interact with an interface daily, as they do with YouTube’s video player, even well-intentioned changes can feel disruptive and unwelcome. However, history suggests that such outrage is often temporary. The initial fury typically subsides as users gradually adapt to the new environment, much like the controversy surrounding other major design changes, such as the Airbnb logo update from a decade ago, which is now largely forgotten.
(Source: Creative Blog)
