I've been getting very close to ditching YouTube. This change showed up a few weeks ago for me and pushed me a bit further.
If they succeed in inserting ads into the video stream I'll bail alltogether. I can fit a subscription to Brilliant, Dropout, and several creator Patreons into the cost of a YouTube Red subscription, and I won't have to deal with these attention-optimizing UI changes.
i haven't used their search in ages. ddg is good enough and doesn't flood you with ads instead of actual results. still not as good as Google used to be once upon a time, but I'll take 80-90% quality over the garbage that is Google search.
Yes, let's abuse a country's poor economy so the service providers eventually raise the price in the region as a direct countermeasure and fuck over the real citizens that needed that cheaper regional pricing.
they've been beta testing this for weeks, had it come up out of nowhere and stay like this for all video's for an entire evening, then next morning the comments and related video sidebar were back where they've always been
I've had this layout for a few weeks now, I agree it's absolutely garbage. The amount of times that I've accidentally modified my Queue or cleared my queue attempting to read the comment section is ridiculous. As is the Queue feature is absolutely atrocious and buggy as hell but like don't make it worse please
Can't wait for Grayjay to finish their desktop client. I also hope they add better functionality to sponsor block, akin to the desktop or revanced experience.
Honestly, the second biggest issue, after the lack of desktop client, is that it doesn't completely solve the problem. I'll still have to use Dropout's, Motor Trend on Demand's (now integrated into Discovery+), and other's streaming service apps, instead of having it all in one place.
That said, I'm not sure if Grayjay wants or intends to implement services that are more like a Netflix, where you'd be following shows instead of creators, considering their mission statement is to follow creators.
I really want Dropout's stuff, Roadkill, and Hot Rod Garage in Grayjay so I can simply add the videos to my watch later. For a show like Breaking Bad or something, I don't think I'd want that in GrayJay, but I suppose it'd be good to have options.
Some ways to try to revert it (some have already been mentioned)
👉 Go to this page and check if you're able to opt out of the "Redesigned Watch Page" (source)
👉 Install a userscript addon like Violentmonkey, and then use a script like Classic Youtube Layout (which is based on this script which was outdated in regards to the related videos sidebar)
If you get an error about the @match line of the script then click on allow edits and change it from *.youtube.com/* to *://*.youtube.com/*, or install the script as it is and then put *://*.youtube.com/* in the "@match rules" line in the settings tab of the script
👉 The addon Enhancer for YouTube (Firefox / Chrome) also reverts the UI, at least partially
👉 (might only work some times) Use the addon CustomTube - Firefox / Chrome (the default UI is from 2017 but you can choose 2021 in the settings. It's not exactly like the one from 2023 but it's close enough)
note that it removes some buttons like Join by default so go over the settings if relevant
If you also want to change the number of videos per row in the subscription page and channels' videos page, then you can add this uBlock Origin code to the "My filters" tab (at the end click "Apply changes", or Ctrl+S) (this is for 6 items per row but you can change the number in the first 2 line as needed) (source 1 / source 2)
Edit: added a bit of information below for those interested
A/B testing (also known as split testing or bucket testing) is a methodology for comparing two versions of a webpage or app against each other to determine which one performs better. A/B testing is essentially an experiment where two or more variants of a page are shown to users at random, and statistical analysis is used to determine which variation performs better for a given conversion goal
In an A/B test, you take a webpage or app screen and modify it to create a second version of the same page. This change can be as simple as a single headline, button or be a complete redesign of the page. Then, half of your traffic is shown the original version of the page (known as control or A) and half are shown the modified version of the page (the variation or B).
The following is an A/B testing framework you can use to start running tests:
Not sure what the issue is with it really, is it just that it's different? Maybe I'm in a niche group that reads comments while watching the video but it seems to me like a good improvement, and you can still go full screen if that's an issue. Idk tho I don't have access to this layout yet, just my impression based on the screenshots I've seen
Invidous takes all of the crap out, but the video quality may be sometimes subpar. Find your nearest instance or spin up your own! I'd also recommend using a redirect extension in your browser for a seamless experience.