Kate Mills
May 10, 2024
YouTube for Android TV now features a new animation when entering the menu sidebar, along with updated highlighted pills while exploring the streaming site.
However, it’s yet not clear how extensively this has been brought out, but people have seen it on numerous Android and Google TV devices, including the Nvidia Shield TV and Chromecast with Google TV.
When the users open the YouTube sidebar in the Android TV app, a new slide-in animation appears, with the section headings sliding up, whereas, the user’s current tab sliding to the right.
Moreover, the previous animation merely appears with particular icons such as 'Search', 'Home', 'Music', 'Movies' and 'TV', 'Gaming', 'Subscriptions', 'Library', and 'More' tabs exposing text recognition.
This new animation also appears to feature a smaller icon-led sidebar, with only the 'Search', 'Home', 'Music', 'Movies', 'TV' and 'More' icons originally displayed. Using the remote to access this part adds the missing choices.
Read more: YouTube's 'Jump ahead' feature rolled out to premium subscribers
Another intriguing element that connects the new animation to other recent modifications to YouTube for Android TV is the addition of more visible pill-shaped icons.
However, people have seen more elements of the streaming platform lose harsh edges in favour of softened corners and softer areas. This update is another step towards the ubiquitous Material You Like pill toggle.
Each 'pill' is more visible against the main backdrop, whereas, there is also greater space between the floating toggles. The symbols remain unchanged, and the YouTube sidebar continues to operate properly when seen on Android TV.
Unlike the latest website design test, this is merely a cosmetic modification that seems more in line with the other UI changes brought to TVs in the last 12-18 months.
