They are very sharp and pointy △
YouTube is arguably the world's largest visual platform, and from redesigning the playback UI on Android TV to adding a new button in the bottom navigation bar, the YouTube team is continually looking for ways to improve the interface. The icons used in the Android app haven't seen major changes since the 2017 material refresh, but now it looks like that's about to change — and not necessarily for the better.
These new icons appear much more minimal, with thin outlines that bring to mind the Spotify app or older iOS versions. From the bottom navigation bar, to the video playback screen, to the app settings, these new icons are showing up everywhere — icons may be small, but this change is definitely going to alter the YouTube app's overall look significantly.
The color of the outlined icons is more stark as well, going from muted shades of gray to black (in the light theme) and white (in the dark theme). Compare some of the icons for yourself below:
Top: Old bottom: New
These icons actually began rolling out on iOS devices earlier this summer. While some hoped that they would be iOS only, that's clearly not the case. We've received reports that they've begun showing up on Android in beta version 15.41.32 of the YouTube app. Personally, I'm not a big fan of the redesign. The old icons were looking a bit long in the teeth, but they were just so, dare I say it, iconic.
However, it looks like YouTube is committed. Now that the new icons are showing up on iOS and Android alike, I wouldn't be surprised if they found their way to desktop in order to unify YouTube's design across platforms.
