YouTube is working on a bunch of new features for its Android version. An APK teardown by 9to5 Google reveals the video-sharing platform will be soon adding the most sought after feature ‘Dark Theme’, which tones down your screen’s glare and experience. This feature is already available for the desktop users.
An APK teardown essentially means digging inside the app to search for hints buried in codes which could reveal upcoming features. 9to5 Google through “various lines of code” was able to find hints for features including dark theme, incognito mode, swipe to skip ads, and new autoplay settings.
Dark Theme
Last August, YouTube went through a design overhaul which brought in a new logo, and many features. Dark theme was made available through this update. As the name suggests, this your YouTube background to black color with shades of grey. The APK teardown reveals codes mentioning dark theme which can be used throughout the app. Like the desktop version, dark theme on the Android app will most likely function with a toggle on/off key.
Incognito Mode
YouTube could also be getting an incognito mode similar to Google Chrome. The incognito icon available on Chrome was discovered on YouTube’s APK teardown, and an option that turns the feature off. At present, you can manually pause watch and search history by turning it on and off under ‘History & Privacy’. However, incognito mode would ease this process with just one tap.
Swipe to skip ads
The next feature will make things a easier for users who do not have YouTube Red. Ads shown before videos on YouTube which come with the option to skip after 5 seconds require tapping on the ‘Skip Ad’ banner. YouTube could soon allow users to simply swipe to skip these ads. Note that this will work only for ads which can be skipped.
Lastly, the ‘Autoplay’ setting could be shifted from its current position of being available under the ‘General’ tab. Autoplay can now be found directly under the ‘Settings’ menu.