YouTube testing a TikTok-like swipe-up gesture to get to the next video
Recently YouTube redesigned its playback speed controls and added a couple of nice features to its app. It's been testing different things in recent months, and some tests sound pretty exciting while others have people raising their eyebrows. In YouTube's latest test, we have a new gesture being tested for longer videos.
TikTok's "Swipe up" gesture moves you to a new video. Since the gesture got popularized by TikTok, it was copied into YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, among other short-video sharing solutions. Now, YouTube is testing the gesture for regular-length videos, not Shorts.
Right now, when you're enjoying a video on YouTube on full screen (landscape orientation), the swipe-up gesture is used to exit full screen, rather conveniently. The test was spotted by Digital Trends contributor Tushar Mehta. The tested fullscreen video player swipe-up gesture leads to a new video being played.
The change has been spotted only on Android phones at the moment. You can also swipe from either side on Android phones to leave fullscreen mode, and you can also do that from the arrow button in the top left corner.
At the moment, it's not clear when this change will roll out globally. Given the fact this is still in its testing phase, user feedback may play a role in whether or not this update gets released at all. Some people have mixed feelings about it, which I agree with simply because when you are already used to what a gesture does in an app, changing that would be rather annoying.
The swipe-up gesture is a quick and easy way to move through a series of short vertical videos, but it's generally primarily suitable for vertical videos. However, YouTube seems to think the gesture may be useful for horizontal videos as well, and this change is quite a dramatic one.
The YouTube product team is fucking the gestures in the Android app one after another.
— Tushar Mehta (@thetymonbay) November 11, 2024
Who the fuck wants to scroll on a long form video? It was more useful to minimize/maximize videos.
As if fucking the in-app PiP wasn't satisfying enough to whoever is getting off this. pic.twitter.com/1jY0XFbiMW
At the moment, it's not clear when this change will roll out globally. Given the fact this is still in its testing phase, user feedback may play a role in whether or not this update gets released at all. Some people have mixed feelings about it, which I agree with simply because when you are already used to what a gesture does in an app, changing that would be rather annoying.
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