Tech Desk 
Nov 12, 2024
YouTube has been testing various new features for a seamless user interface, but recently it was spotted to be working on a “swipe up” gesture feature to improve video discovery.
Originally introduced by the popular video-sharing platform TikTok, the "swipe up" gesture was later adopted by YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels.
What is swipe-up gesture on YouTube
The swipe-up gesture is a quick and easy way to move through a series of short videos, primarily suitable for vertical videos.
However, YouTube is now testing to make the swipe-up gesture useful for horizontal videos as well.
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As spotted by Digital Trends' contributor Tushar Mehta on X (formerly Twitter), the tested full-screen video player swipe-up gesture now leads to a new video.
When a user is watching a video on YouTube on full-screen on Android, the swipe-up gesture is used from either side to exit full-screen. Users can also exit the full-screen mode by using the arrow button in the top left corner.
While Google has not announced plans to expand the swipe-up gesture to reach a wider audience, it appears that YouTube is utilising this rollout as a testing phase to gather user feedback.
The feature might become a permanent addition if it receives positive user feedback.
