YouTube announced a number of updates for its mobile app in October, and the translucent bottom bar with a frosted glass effect is now rolling out.
The bottom bar, which was updated last month with tweaked icons, is now translucent. You can see what’s underneath (thumbnails) as you scroll the app.
This frosted glass effect is subtle and — to my eye — more apparent when YouTube’s dark theme is enabled. Since the iPhone has a taller gesture area, this change is more noticeable on iOS compared to Android (unless 3-button navigation is enabled). Overall, it’s meant to offer a more immersive browsing experience.
Old vs. new
YouTube’s translucent bottom bar is rolling out as a server-side update with version 19.47 (Android) and 19.49 (iOS) today. On desktop web, the top bar is getting the blurred effect.
This change joins other mobile design updates like the miniplayer revamp, reorganized Settings page, and new playback speed controls.
More on YouTube:
- YouTube Premium’s early adopter (grandfathered) price is going away
- YouTube for Android TV adds prominent ‘Subscribe’ button to player UI
- YouTube debunks viral homepage layout that hides video view counts and upload date
- YouTube hyperlinked comments starting to appear more widely on mobile
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