The Now Playing split-view overhaul that YouTube Music has been developing since last year is now being released widely.
At the top, you’ll see that the “Song” and “Video” toggler now features icons, while the cover art has been slightly enlarged compared to the previous version.
The arrangement of the button carousel and main controls remains the same, but the progress bar has transitioned from a thin line and playhead to a sturdier container. The line becomes thicker when you tap and scrub.
In addition, YTM has eliminated “Lyrics” and “Related.” The lower section of Now Playing is now focused on your Up Next queue. You can swipe anywhere within the player (even at the very top) to pull it up to the halfway mark.
This redesign brings forth a new dual-pane layout that allows you to view cover art, controls, and what’s coming next. Swipe up again to revert to the previous fullscreen format.
You’ll find Lyrics right after the thumbs up/down capsule, while Related can be accessed by tapping the song title and the right-facing chevron.
The split-view Now Playing redesign is now being rolled out extensively to YouTube Music for Android (version 9.14) and iOS (9.15). This update is server-side, with dismissing the queue and force-stopping the app prompting the new appearance.