YouTube makes fullscreen videos more useful with redesigned UI

What you need to know

• YouTube introduces a redesigned fullscreen video UI for its mobile app.
• The UI enables various actions such as liking a video, adding to a playlist, or posting a comment.
• The new UI should be rolling out to Android users now.

YouTube is making a long-overdue change to its fullscreen UI on its mobile app, enabling new options for users without having to minimize the video.

The change was spotted by 9to5Google and moves away from the pretty bare fullscreen experience to one that's a bit more dynamic. This includes options on the video to like, dislike, send, comment, or add a playlist. There's also a way to pull up related videos in the bottom right corner of the screen.

You'll also notice that the three-dot menu is replaced with a more prominent settings cog.

The new UI makes watching fullscreen videos a bit less cumbersome, allowing you to do plenty of what you'd typically do if you were watching from the portrait mode view.

It also makes better use of the new floating fullscreen comments UI that was introduced in 2021, making it easier to pull up the comments without leaving the fullscreen experience.

The new UI appears to be rolling out pretty widely on the best Android phones, so you can hop into the app and start really enjoying your videos in fullscreen. That said, it doesn't appear to be available just yet on iOS devices.