YouTube for Android Testing ‘Play Something’ Floating Action Button: Report

YouTube is testing a new button in its mobile app for the Android platform, according to a report. It is said to play a random video when the user doesn’t know what to watch. The feature, dubbed Play something appears as a floating action button (FAB) with white text on a black background on the YouTube mobile app. Notably, this feature was first reported to be tested by the video streaming platform last year but was exclusive to YouTube Shorts back then. However, that’s not the case anymore.

Play Something FAB on YouTube

9to5Google discovered the Play something FAB in YouTube for Android app version 19.50. It is said to be in a testing phase and hasn’t been officially announced by the video streaming platform as of now.

In a report, the publication highlighted that tapping the option starts a video in the YouTube Shorts window. Additionally, the FAB can play regular YouTube videos which appear in the portrait interface, along with options to like, dislike, comment, and share the video. Once toggled, the timeline scrubber is also reported to be displayed at the bottom of the screen.

However, the FAB is said to disappear once the YouTube mini-player comes up.

New YouTube Features

Alongside the FAB, YouTube has rolled out several new features in the test phase in recent weeks. This includes new vertical scroll gestures for its mobile app that might change the way how users navigate through and consume content on the platform. Swiping up on any video is reported to automatically send the user to the next video instead of minimising to the default view. This is said to work along the same lines as the scroll gestures on YouTube Shorts.

The video streaming platform has also expanded its AI-powered auto-dubbing feature, which can automatically transcribe and translate YouTube videos from English to other dialects and vice versa, to information and knowledge-focused content. It is said to help creators engage viewers who don’t speak the same language by transcending language barriers.