YouTube has been around for quite some time, starting life back in 2005. As the platform celebrates 17 years, it has gone through quite a bit of change, debuting new looks and introducing new features. So it comes as no surprise that it will once again evolve, introducing much-needed refinements and requested visuals to add a subtle bit of flair, along with other quality-of-life improvements.

According to YouTube, the firm wanted to add a little more color to its experience, but it wanted to do so without causing distractions. This is how "ambient" mode was born, which adds dynamic color from a video to the background of the app. The visual effect can be seen in the YouTube app on mobile or the YouTube website by engaging the Dark Theme. In addition, the theme will now be darker going forward, making the new effect pop even more. The new Dark Theme will be available on the website, app, and smart TVs. Furthermore, the way playlists look has also been revamped, getting the same color treatment but also showing more details, so users can get more information about the content at a glance.

Apparently, the firm thought the video page was getting a little busy and has now also revamped it to make things cleaner and simpler. Going forward, YouTube links in the video description will be changed to buttons, and actions such as share, subscribe, and download will now be formatted so that viewers can focus on the content. In an effort to further enhance the experience further, users will now be able to pinch to zoom on content to view finer details and will also have finer controls when it comes to seeking through a video.

While these updates are a welcome addition, YouTube has been busy on other parts of its platform in the past months. Most recently, it increased the price of Premium service for families and experimented with charging people for 4K streaming. It also announced plans to share ad revenue with Shorts creators and debuted new handles that would give creators a unique identity on the platform. YouTube has continuously evolved, for better or for worse, but these new additions announced today will be exciting, especially if you're a frequent YouTube user. The updates will be rolling out over the coming weeks to supported platforms.

Source: YouTube