Summary
- YouTube is improving its TV streaming app to reduce distractions and prioritize simplicity based on user feedback.
- The redesigned UI has a dedicated area for details, keeping video front and center to minimize distractions.
- YouTube’s changes may be aimed at getting more users to subscribe to Premium by offering benefits such as ad-free viewing and offline downloads.
While YouTube may be at the top of the food chain in terms of video streaming platforms, the Google-owned service still faces its fair share of competition. Many video-based apps and services find ways to differentiate themselves through UI. Now, YouTube is focusing on improving its user interface, apparently with the goal of keeping viewers glued to the big screens.
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YouTube announced it tweaks its app on TV streaming devices like Roku and Chromecast to reduce distractions while watching videos. It makes changes based on user feedback, suggesting it could benefit from favoring “simplicity” over more control.
In the redesigned app, you’ll find that the video you’re watching is still front and center, and the playback controls you’re used to are unchanged. However, you’ll see a new user interface that makes it much easier to digest the details with an up arrow to click on the title and title of the video – the video will now shrink to better fit the comments, description and other details in the specific area. . In the outgoing UI, this same information appeared in an overlay that obscured the right side of the video, and YouTube said its goal here was to keep people engaged with the content they’re streaming and minimize distractions.
YouTube Premium wants to attract users because it wants to add subscribers
It is yet to be seen whether these changes to the streaming program will be welcomed by viewers. However, it’s possible that YouTube is making such changes in hopes of encouraging more existing users to subscribe to its premium service. Google recently expanded the availability of YouTube Premium, its paid subscription service, geographically, including Uganda, Morocco and Jamaica. One of the biggest benefits of YouTube Premium is that members can avoid intrusive ads while watching videos. Other benefits include the option to download content for offline viewing and background playback support.
If those aren’t enough to get you started paying for a video streaming service, perhaps the bundle will entice you. In 2023, Google began to look for ways to combine its various products and services to create a single subscription – for example, Google One and Nest Aware used to be combined into one package. We’ve since seen it roll out to UK users, and access to Fitbit Premium has been offered as the cherry on top, but such bundles have yet to make their way to US customers.