YouTube’s app family had adopted a different design language compared to Google’s first-party applications. Now, clicking on the “Share” button opens a much smaller and more practical scrollbar that shows about five destinations on the screen, instead of a grid-based page covering two-thirds of the screen. Here are the details…

The design of the “Share” page in the YouTube Music Android app has changed.

At the bottom of the page, there were “Copy Link” and “Share with other apps” buttons, which used to open the system share page and were the first options in the previous 3×5/6 grid. The new size could be better for one-handed use but might be annoying if you frequently share with many apps.

This design is consistent with the YouTube app, though the main client highlights round pages. The new YouTube Music Android app offers an edge-to-edge view for all pop-up windows. The special share page design first appeared on iOS and has now finally arrived for YouTube Music on Android.

Announcements also indicate that YouTube Music’s web app has brought offline downloads, an ‘Activity’ notification stream, and song search similar to Google Play Music. These innovations are seen as steps to improve YouTube Music’s user experience and make the app more useful.

This innovation in YouTube Music’s share page can offer several benefits for the user experience:

• Improved one-handed use: The reduced size of the share page makes it easier to use with one hand. This can be a significant ergonomic improvement, especially for users with large-screen devices.
• Reduced visual clutter: Listing the sharing options in a scrollbar provides a less visually cluttered interface, allowing users to find their desired option more quickly.
• Quick access options: Direct access to the most frequently used sharing options (“Copy Link” and “Share with Other Apps”) speeds up the sharing process, helping users save time.
• Interface consistency: Using a similar design to the YouTube app offers a consistent user experience across Google applications, potentially reducing the adaptation time for users switching between different apps.

Overall, this innovation, by making the previously intrusive Share panel more practical, will likely please YouTube Music users. Did the previous design bother you as well? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.