YouTube May Be Ditching Text Labels for Controls in Latest Redesign

YouTube seems to be back at it again, quietly tinkering with its interface like a chef who just can’t stop tweaking a recipe. In its latest experiment, YouTube is testing a redesign that includes fresh set of buttons under the video player. These controls were only revamped last October with a bolder look, but now they’re losing their labels altogether.

YouTube’s latest redesign move things around again

As spotted by our friends at Android Authority, new test replaces text with icon-only buttons, giving the interface a cleaner but arguably less intuitive feel. It’s a bit of a mixed bag. While minimalism can look sharp, not everyone enjoys playing guessing games with icons. For casual users, this change could feel like fixing something that wasn’t broken in the first place.

Interestingly, this redesign isn’t showing up across the board. The outlet notes that the updated buttons have appeared on devices like the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the OnePlus 15 running Android 16, but not consistently. I don’t see the redesign on Galaxy S26 Ultra running Android 17 yet.

The outlet adds that even devices on the same software version sometimes stick with the older layout. All of which suggests this is a limited and somewhat unpredictable test rollout.

 There’s more going on under the hood than just button tweaks. YouTube has shuffled around key elements in the video interface. The channel name is now replaced with the username and moved above the channel logo, while engagement stats like views and likes have climbed higher up the screen, changing the visual hierarchy.

Meanwhile, some features are being pushed out of sight. The Save and Download options have been tucked away inside the three dot overflow menu, making them less accessible at a glance. Whether this results in a wider rollout or gets scrapped remains to be seen. Whichever way YouTube goes, we’ll let you know.