Android users spot a TikTok-style swipe on YouTube’s horizontal videos

TikTok has revolutionized the way we watch videos, and it’s a detail that other short-form video creation platforms can’t ignore: the swipe up.

When Instagram launched its TikTok clone Reels, it included a swipe up design detail, an important aspect that makes the copycat so popular — and same thing with YouTube Shorts. Famously, all of those platforms are primarily used to vertical video. Now, it appears the YouTube app itself might be testing that gesture in its standard video player — in all its horizontal glory.

Digital Trends contributor Tushar Mehta first spotted the change and posted about it on X saying he noticed the change on the app on Android phones and asking who would want “to scroll on a long form video?” It’s a good question. The general consensus — if you combine the vibe of Mehta’s tweet with the headline from the Android Authority piece covering the potential change, “YouTube is testing the worst change ever in its Android app” — is that people are not excited about it. One user responded to Mehta’s post on X with: “this is so frustrating. Frustrating enough to drive me to twitter to see if I’m the only one who’s annoyed.” Another user called it “genuinely hilarious,” which Mehta responded with: “Idk how engineers come up with this to justify their $250k+ salaries.”

This is not an official change, and YouTube did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Mashable. So far it’s only been spotted as a limited test on Android, and it’s unclear if Google has any plans whatsoever to actually roll this out.