The New YouTube Debuts a New Minimalistic Player, Here's How to Get It

There's a new YouTube in the works, well, actually just a redesigned YouTube. The fresh new look borrows heavily from the Google+ redesign of a few months ago, but it doesn't go too far from the existing site. There aren't many new things or features, but the whole site just looks better.

Google's been testing the new design for a few weeks now and a few lucky or annoyed users have been able to test it since. You can join the test as well, by following our guide here.

Since the experimental redesign was introduced, it's gotten a few tweaks and improvements. It's also looking like Google is getting closer to launch, as new features now have built-in guides to help users new to them.

Case in point is the new "Guide" sidebar that follows users around on any YouTube page.

This sidebar, which can be hidden away, enables users to quickly go to their favorite subscribed channels, their Watch Later queue and so on. Previously, all of this was only available from the homepage.

But users sporting the new look may have also noticed a redesigned YouTube player. It's not a major departure from the old one, but it is in line with the new look of the site with flat UI elements and a minimalistic design.