Although YouTube has seen a lot of logo modifications over the years, one thing has remained consistent and that is its iconic red hue. In spite of the fact that this is the case, YouTube might be looking to branch out into new colors if its recent UI tests are anything to go by. Tests for its video progress bar on Android seem to indicate that a less saturated color might become prevalent, and that may be a big change for many YouTube diehards.
This video progress bar has been red across all platforms that YouTube is available on, but that could all change fairly soon. White or gray may be incorporated instead, and while that might not look quite as nice it will also make the progress bar less distracting than might have been the case otherwise.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that any sort of interaction from the user’s end will immediately switch the bar back to its traditional red tone. Additionally, red is still the single most prominent color across the rest of the video streaming platform.
Users who prefer to use the app or website with dark mode toggled on also won’t have to deal with the color change. Red is still a great option for dark mode because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up making the progress bar clearly visible, whereas white might be an eyesore and gray would be difficult to see.
There is currently no indication that YouTube’s branding will be any less red than it used to be. However, if YouTube is thinking of changing the progress bar color, chances are that this is a preparatory step for bigger changes to come. It might also just be a simple A/B test, and that would make it a blip that most people would forget about before too long. It will be interesting to see if this test is indicative of anything major that will come in the near or far future.
H/T: 9to5Google
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This video progress bar has been red across all platforms that YouTube is available on, but that could all change fairly soon. White or gray may be incorporated instead, and while that might not look quite as nice it will also make the progress bar less distracting than might have been the case otherwise.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that any sort of interaction from the user’s end will immediately switch the bar back to its traditional red tone. Additionally, red is still the single most prominent color across the rest of the video streaming platform.
Users who prefer to use the app or website with dark mode toggled on also won’t have to deal with the color change. Red is still a great option for dark mode because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up making the progress bar clearly visible, whereas white might be an eyesore and gray would be difficult to see.
There is currently no indication that YouTube’s branding will be any less red than it used to be. However, if YouTube is thinking of changing the progress bar color, chances are that this is a preparatory step for bigger changes to come. It might also just be a simple A/B test, and that would make it a blip that most people would forget about before too long. It will be interesting to see if this test is indicative of anything major that will come in the near or far future.
Read next: Google’s Data Centers Used 4 Billion Gallons of Water in 2021
