What do you think of the redesign of YouTube’s new video player? (Survey)

After months of testing, Google is finally rolling out a redesigned video player for YouTube, with its new aesthetic extending to virtually every platform imaginable. It’s a big change, and thanks to YouTube’s near-monopoly on traditional long-form video content, it’s something everyone is bound to have feelings about.

This new video player finally arrived on my Google account on Wednesday afternoon, and I have to say it was pretty shocking. On the web, I’m someone who traditionally keeps videos locked to cinema mode for a more immersive experience, filling most of the window without completely blocking the rest of my desktop. Unfortunately, combined with a fairly large 32-inch monitor, I think I had the worst first impression one could get from this new UI. The new playback controls seem so large and expansive that they seem genuinely broken at first glance – a feeling not helped by a screenshot extension I installed that actually does. East visually broken after update.

Even putting that third party issue aside, I have to say that I don’t think I like this experience very much. The semi-translucent button borders are now much harder to see, while the opaque white buttons themselves take up more space than before. It’s a visibly messy experience that feels like it’s trying to take up less screen real estate while simultaneously taking up much, much more. I also don’t think it’s particularly easy to see the buttons compared to YouTube’s previous layout. At least on mobile, everything is a little more condensed.

However, with most of my complaints coming from the desktop experience, I wouldn’t be surprised if readers had a completely different view than mine. Looking through the comments on our media coverage of this week’s update, it seems like people on mobile – where everything is much more condensed and properly accounts for the curved corners of modern devices – and TVs are having a lot fewer problems. But, on the other hand, it’s not uncommon to hate change, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Google’s actions split the audience in two.

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So, what do you think? Are you in favor of YouTube’s redesign, translucent buttons and all, or are you already missing that old layout? Definitely expand on your thoughts in the comments, especially if you’re someone who likes it on a specific platform – like TVs or mobile – over others.