Google is giving YouTube a fresh coat of paint, shifting around the furniture and adding some new accessories as part of some long-overdue home improvements.
The company has announced its redesign for desktop PCs and tablets is now rolling out the update, after previews first emerged back in August.
Google says the redesign makes it easier to find your next great video, customise the viewing queue and get rid of those pesky suggested channels you’ve no interest in engaging with.
To the first point, Google has increased the size of the thumbnails, longer video titles and it is making the video previews when you hover over the clip higher resolution. Google is also adding channel icons beneath the thumbnail to make your favourites more recognisable.
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In order to compensate for the larger thumbnails, Google is scaling back the number of categories on the homepage. The ‘from your subscriptions’ category, for example, has fallen by the wayside.
The GIF file below does a good job of reflecting the changes:
Google is also introducing the option to add an ‘add to queue’ button the desktop site, which it says is one of the most requested features.
“You can select a handful of videos to watch next without interrupting the video you’re currently watching,” the company says in a blog post. “Videos in your queue won’t save after you’ve closed your browser, but you can always save videos to your permanent “Watch Later” playlist, too.”
Finally, Google is making it possible to remove suggestions from channels you don’t want to watch, bringing another mobile feature to the desktop. Users can select the three-dot menu next to a video and type “don’t recommend channel.”
Google also says it is about to bring the ability to refine your favourite topics and customise the homefeed.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.