YouTube has quietly rolled out many design changes, but for the most part, they've either been inoffensive or people have quickly adapted to them. This one, however, might be the most sensitive yet, and I'm not sure many will embrace it with open arms.
YouTube is currently testing a significant redesign of its web video player interface, introducing substantial changes to the look and layout familiar to everyone for nearly a decade.
Everything around the actual video playing UI has changed except that interface, and Google is now daring to play around with some changes to it to make it feel more "modern."
The most striking alteration in the test interface is the fragmentation of the control bar. Instead of residing on a unified, semi-transparent gradient strip, primary controls are now isolated within individual floating 'pills' or 'capsules'.
The Play/Pause button is still there on the left, and most of the controls are in the places you'd expect them to be, but everything looks a bit more broken apart. The 'capsules' themselves are opaque, probably to improve visibility in a variety of different videos regardless of the background behind.
The part that most people might not be okay with, though, might not be the actual visuals of the interface. Though they might be heavily changed, it's probably something people will get used to after a few months.
The actually offensive part is that the volume controls are now being moved from the left side to the right side. On the left side, you're left with the Play/Pause button, a Next button if you happen to be watching a video that's part of a playlist, and the timestamp—everything else is on the right, and the volume button is now placed alongside subtitles and video settings options.