James R | On 18, Nov 2019

YouTube has given its homepage a revamp.

The updated design, which has begun rolling out across desktops and YouTube apps on Android and iOS tablets, includes longer video titles and larger, richer thumbnails to give users clearer information about the video at a glance, plus higher resolution video previews. As part of this cleaner design, some content shelves have also been removed can although rows of videos for breaking news and music mixes remain.

When browsing on Home, channel icons are displayed below each video making it easier to recognise creators and content. There’s also the option to add a video to your queue on desktop computers, without interrupting the video currently playing. Videos in the queue won’t save after the browser has been closed, but can be saved to a permanent “Watch Later” playlist, too.

Being able to tell YouTube to stop suggesting videos from a particular channel was added to mobiles earlier this year and now, it’s rolling out for desktop users too, via the three-dot menu next to a video on the homepage.

YouTube will be doing the same with the ability to select favorite topics and customise Home feeds with related videos, which was made available on YouTube Android earlier this year.

“We’ve been experimenting with this updated design for a few months and — based on your input — have made dozens of improvements to the layout, most notably adjusting the thumbnail sizes and showing more videos on larger screens,” says Senior Product Manager Essam El-Dardiry.

“We’re excited to roll this out to everyone, and we hope you’ll find the updated design and new features helpful as you navigate the incredible breadth of content available on YouTube.”

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