Hey, I was browsing youtube in private mode, and out of nowhere it started looking like this, I really hope this doesn’t go through lolol…

(the black square bottom right is probably an ad being blocked.

  • recklessengagement@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    I’ve been getting very close to ditching YouTube. This change showed up a few weeks ago for me and pushed me a bit further.

    If they succeed in inserting ads into the video stream I’ll bail alltogether. I can fit a subscription to Brilliant, Dropout, and several creator Patreons into the cost of a YouTube Red subscription, and I won’t have to deal with these attention-optimizing UI changes.

    • Orfeluh@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      You can use some of the alternatives like Piped in web browser or desktop app called FreeTube

  • tb_@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    I’m not a fan. I prefer watching in theatre mode; when opening comments it closes theatre mode.

  • Pika@sh.itjust.works
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    5 months ago

    I’ve had this layout for a few weeks now, I agree it’s absolutely garbage. The amount of times that I’ve accidentally modified my Queue or cleared my queue attempting to read the comment section is ridiculous. As is the Queue feature is absolutely atrocious and buggy as hell but like don’t make it worse please

  • jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    They are always testing changes to different groups of people.

    Not too sure how that works, but if you wnat the old layout you can add extensions.

    Quick search results in:

    How to Undo YouTube’s Terrible New Layout [Jake Peterson | May 23 2024 | LifeHacker] https://lifehacker.com/tech/how-to-undo-youtubes-terrible-new-layout

    How to Get Old YouTube Layout Back: Simple Steps for Nostalgic Navigation [July 18, 2024 | bytebitebit] https://bytebitebit.com/tips-tricks/how-to-get-old-youtube-layout-back/

    • Schal330@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      It’s likely A/B Testing and when people receive the new layout, if Youtube sees a drop in engagement for their experiment they may just ditch it.

      • jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Oh, thanks for the link!


        Edit: added a bit of information below for those interested

        A/B testing (also known as split testing or bucket testing) is a methodology for comparing two versions of a webpage or app against each other to determine which one performs better. A/B testing is essentially an experiment where two or more variants of a page are shown to users at random, and statistical analysis is used to determine which variation performs better for a given conversion goal

        In an A/B test, you take a webpage or app screen and modify it to create a second version of the same page. This change can be as simple as a single headline, button or be a complete redesign of the page. Then, half of your traffic is shown the original version of the page (known as control or A) and half are shown the modified version of the page (the variation or B).

        The following is an A/B testing framework you can use to start running tests:

        1. Collect data:
        2. Identify goals:
        3. Generate test hypothesis:
        4. Create different variations:
        5. Run experiment:
        6. Wait for the test results:
        7. Analyze results:
  • 001Guy001@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    Some ways to try to revert it (some have already been mentioned)

    👉 Go to this page and check if you’re able to opt out of the “Redesigned Watch Page” (source)

    👉 Install a userscript addon like Violentmonkey, and then use a script like Classic Youtube Layout (which is based on this script which was outdated in regards to the related videos sidebar)

    • If you get an error about the @match line of the script then click on allow edits and change it from *.youtube.com/* to *://*.youtube.com/*, or install the script as it is and then put *://*.youtube.com/* in the “@match rules” line in the settings tab of the script
    • There’s also this script that you would need to add its code manually to the userscript addon by clicking on the new script icon (see the author’s post for more details)

    👉 Use uBlock Origin filters like these or these

    • Note that youtube.com##+js(set, yt.config_.EXPERIMENT_FLAGS.kevlar_watch_grid, false) should be enough to change the UI back for the most part

    👉 Use this userscript and Stylus style

    👉 The addon Enhancer for YouTube (Firefox / Chrome) also reverts the UI, at least partially

    👉 (might only work some times) Use the addon CustomTube - Firefox / Chrome (the default UI is from 2017 but you can choose 2021 in the settings. It’s not exactly like the one from 2023 but it’s close enough)

    • note that it removes some buttons like Join by default so go over the settings if relevant

    If you also want to change the number of videos per row in the subscription page and channels’ videos page, then you can add this uBlock Origin code to the “My filters” tab (at the end click “Apply changes”, or Ctrl+S) (this is for 6 items per row but you can change the number in the first 2 line as needed) (source 1 / source 2)

    youtube.com##ytd-rich-grid-renderer:style(--ytd-rich-grid-items-per-row: 6 !important;)
    youtube.com##ytd-rich-grid-renderer:style(--ytd-rich-grid-posts-per-row: 6 !important;)
    youtube.com##ytd-two-column-browse-results-renderer.grid-6-columns:style(width: 100% !important;)
    youtube.com##ytd-rich-grid-row, #contents.ytd-rich-grid-row:style(display:contents !important;)
    youtube.com##ytd-two-column-browse-results-renderer.grid:not(.grid-disabled):style(max-width: 100% !important;)
    
  • JustARaccoon@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Not sure what the issue is with it really, is it just that it’s different? Maybe I’m in a niche group that reads comments while watching the video but it seems to me like a good improvement, and you can still go full screen if that’s an issue. Idk tho I don’t have access to this layout yet, just my impression based on the screenshots I’ve seen