After rolling out a series of design updates and new features to the mobile app, YouTube is testing a “Play Something” FAB.
This floating action button says “Play something” and has a play icon. It’s white text on a black background that stands out a lot.
Pressing starts a video in the Shorts player. However, this isn’t exclusive to YouTube Shorts and will play regular content in this portrait interface with big buttons for like, dislike, comment and share on the right, while you get a timeline slider at the bottom.
When the mini player is active, the Play Something button disappears.
Using a FAB is interesting, but makes thematic sense since it allows you to initiate the main content consumption goal of the app. This probably takes into account your video preferences.
YouTube tested this feature since last yearbut this most recent report from the Play Something FAB is from version 19.50 for Android.
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Thanks Leonard
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