Almost a year ago to the day, YouTube launched “Ambient Mode,” a new feature that would have colors spill out of the video and into YouTube’s interface. Now, fullscreen YouTube videos on Android and iOS are showing those ambient colors on the sides of the display.
When Ambient Mode launched, it was designed to show colors that matched the video in the status bar and under the video, with the idea to make watching the video a little more immersive. However, at the time, this went away when the video went into fullscreen mode, with typical black bars filling the empty space left by a mismatched aspect ratio.
Now, YouTube is rolling out a tweak where Ambient Mode will show colors in that blank space around a fullscreen video.
The change appears to be widely rolling out across both Android and iOS, regardless of device or form factor. We’re seeing the change on Pixel 8 Pro and the OnePlus Open (it looks pretty wild on a foldable), as well as an iPhone 15 Pro.
While, personally, I’m not not a fan of the change, it’s understandable why some folks might not like it. Thankfully, there’s an easy way to turn it off by going to the in-video settings menu (not the full app settings), tapping “Additional Settings,” and then turning off Ambient Mode.
Also of note, YouTube appears to more widely be rolling out its new startup splash screen on Android devices. The animation first launched on devices last year, including on a few Android devices, and already shows up on iOS, but as of the past week or so, it’s more widely showing up on Android devices.
Thanks Sterling, RKBD!
More on YouTube:
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
