YouTube Music drops Premium’s red status ring around avatars on Android

Abner Li | Jun 1 2019 - 9:36 am PT

YouTube Music 3.17 rolled out earlier this week with only one minor aesthetic tweak compared to last month’s more notable update. The Android app drops the red ring in the top-right corner that denotes YouTube Music Premium status.

Your Google Account avatar is in the top-right corner of most screens in YouTube Music. Before this week’s update, Music Premium subscribers (compared to free Music users) would have a red ring around their profile image to denote benefits like ad-free playback and offline storage.

Version 3.17 drops the red ring in the main app bar, as well as on the Account screen after tapping the avatar. This screen was revamped in January to drop a generic cover image, and still notes your “YouTube Premium” or “YouTube Music Premium” status. The latter service is $9.99, while the former is $11.99 and removes ads across the video site. A link to manage “Paid memberships” is below, along with downloads, history, account switching, and settings.

Aesthetically, the lack of a bright red circle makes the app bar less noticeable, which is better when browsing the dark gray client. The indicator did not really serve a functional purpose once you subscribed to Premium, but might be helpful for new paying customers. This change was implemented on iOS several months ago, with YouTube Music on the web also lacking the red ring.

The main YouTube client does not have to deal with this as Premium subscribers get a different logo in the top-left corner to mark their subscription status. Version 3.17 of YouTube Music is now widely rolled out via the Play Store.