YouTube Music is reportedly working on a design tweak that will shift the ‘Search’ icon to the bottom of the screen on Android devices. According to a report from 9to5Google, the app has already started soak testing the new feature that places the search option alongside three other UI elements, including Home, Hotlilst and Library, which were already on the bottom bar.
Notably, the report also claims that the behavior of the system ‘Back’ button on the phone has now changed for users with the new UI. “Instead of returning to the previous screen, the system back button now exits you from the app. A tap of the bottom bar is required to navigate elsewhere”, says the report.
The new UI is seemingly a server-side feature that’s being turned on only for select Android users with the latest release (version 3.23.52). While it makes sense to have four options on the bottom bar because of increased screen real estate on new devices, it will be interesting to see if users with smaller devices will find it a little cluttered for their liking.
It seems YouTube Music is trying out a number of design changes to its mobile app of late. Only yesterday, the app was updated with a new feature to help YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium subscribers make a seamless transition between a song and its music video. As part of the plan, both the Android and iOS versions of the app received a button at the top of the screen to help users toggle between video and audio modes in more than five million songs on the platform.
