The website is experimenting with a brand-new design

Apr 14, 2015 09:22 GMT  ·  By

It seems that YouTube is running some experiments on its video player, as a new UI version has become available for viewers.

The HTML5 player is prone to offer an experience similar to the one you get on your mobile phone, a new report shows.

With a transparent control bar which hides when you are not using it and reappears as soon as you hover the mouse over it, the player has undergone a change for the better.

You can test the new version beforehand

The official release has not been announced yet, but there are some tricks that could help you get a sneak peek of what it will look like.

TheHacker0007 posted a video on his YouTube channel to show people how they can enable the UI with the help of the EDitThisCookie Chrome extension, in case they want to enjoy the experience in advance.

Another suggested trick is to press F12 to open developer tools and run this command in console:

code
document.cookie="VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE=Q06SngRDTGA"
Or you can just wait until the new format is released, since YouTube is very likely to make it a default one, as it does with most of its features, like Autoplay.

But unlike the Autoplay enhancement, people who have had the chance to try out the new design have expressed their satisfaction with the way it turned out.

Although some have argued that the Watch Later button disappears in the revamped version, it should be available if you watch the videos in full screen.

It is very unlikely that YouTube will remove the button after the change, but since the enhancement has not been officially announced, it is only natural for it to have some flaws (some of the people who got to experiment it say they encountered video lag). Hopefully, the company will deal with them before launch.

There are no other significant differences between the old version and the new one, except for the fact that the experimental player has bigger and bolder icons.

It remains to be seen if YouTube goes through with the makeover, but given the positive feedback it has received so far, chances are it will.

YouTube's HTML5 player (3 Images)

YouTube could release a new video player version
This is what the new loading bar looks likeThe two versions are quite similar
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