YouTube is testing a new web interface, including the ability to hide the number of views and upload dates of videos on the home page. Reviews are mixed so far…
While YouTube continues to impose ever more advertising on its users, the platform must more than ever be essential on a daily basis to justify this inconvenience and the price of its subscription, far from cheap. Also, Google continues to improve it, perfecting it little by little. To do this, it regularly tests changes with a small portion of its users. The latest test in progress concerns the platform’s web interface, as reported Android Police. The major change is hiding the view counts and upload dates of videos when the homepage first loads. And suffice to say that everyone is far from excited…
YouTube test: an interface that is difficult to convince
Simply removing upload dates and view counts from the home page can be a way to further push users to click on content that isn’t yet viral, focusing on quality and the relevance of the results rather than their popularity. On the other hand, it is a shame to hide the date, because the most frequent users logically seek to see the most recent videos. In truth, the relevance of this choice will depend on YouTube’s algorithm.
The organization of the video page has also been completely redesigned. So, the comments and description are now grouped in a sidebar on the right of the screen. A way to be able to consult this information while continuing to watch the video. Video suggestions, for their part, are now found directly under the player. This also makes it possible to harmonize the interface with that already present in connected televisions.
So far, reactions from the community have been rather mixed. Some welcome the cleaner appearance of the interface and the possibility of reading comments without having to scroll. Others regret the disappearance of information they consider essential. Google does well to be careful before imposing such a change, especially when we remember the outcry caused by certain past modifications…