YouTube is testing new feature that will replace fullscreen gestures with scrolling videos

YouTube is currently testing a new feature on mobile that will likely have some fans among its users. As users have noticed, the company is reusing the vertical scroll gesture in fullscreen mode to switch to the next or previous video, similar to Shorts. Tushar Mehta On X.

Currently, you can swipe up on a video in the mobile app to make it fullscreen and then swipe down on it to exit fullscreen. If you scroll up in fullscreen mode, you get a list of suggested videos.

With this new change, swiping up in fullscreen will send you a new suggested video, similar to how it works with YouTube Shorts or other services like TikTok or Instagram. If you swipe down, the player will take you back to the previous video instead of exiting fullscreen mode. To exit fullscreen you have to go back to the first video by using the swipe down gesture or clicking the button in the corner.

This change, currently seemingly only in the testing phase as we can’t replicate it on any of our devices, could lead to users spending even more time in the app, mindlessly swiping from one video to another, and views. This is another attempt to motivate to increase. However, while this may be acceptable for shorts, it seems inappropriate for standard, full-form videos, which are typically opened with the intention of watching the video itself rather than simply scrolling through random suggested videos. .

This change will also break muscle memory for users who are now completely accustomed to simply swiping down to exit and no longer have to swap back and forth between the videos the player plays. Will become confused by those they never intended to see.

Of course, the whole purpose of such limited testing is to gauge user feedback and if enough people respond negatively to it, the feature may be removed. Or it can be implemented anyway because who cares what users want these days.