YouTube Music rolls out album UI redesign on Android tablets [U]

Abner Li | Jun 30 2022 - 2:15 pm PT

As announced at I/O 2022, Google is optimizing its Android apps for tablets and other large screen devices. YouTube Music playlists have already seen a redesign and that UI is now coming to the album view.

Update 6/30: YouTube Music’s album redesign is now widely rolling out on Android tablets via a server-side update, though version 5.13 is also available this afternoon. Once nice touch keeps album notes expanded as you browse. There are no changes today to Android/iOS phones or the iPad.

Original 6/26: This redesign (in portrait mode) starts with YouTube Music noting the artist, type of media (album), and release year at the very top. Album art, which is larger than before, appears next against a blurred background, while the name and description follows.

Available controls include download, add to library, play, share, and an overflow menu. You then get the list of tracks, which on a (landscape) tablet appears on the right as all other information is in the left column. There should be a bottom-right corner FAB (floating action button) for shuffling when you scroll down.

One Reddit user who received the playlist redesign early on is the first to receive this new album UI. This revamp does not currently apply to music that you’ve uploaded. Of course, as seen with albums, the overhaul is happening very slowly on a view-by-view basis and it could happen sometime in the future.

It’s a good modernization, especially on large screens where the old approach was to stretch everything out.

We’re not seeing this YouTube Music redesign for albums on several tablet devices we checked this morning. There have been previous reports of it also coming to phones, but that’s far from widely available at this point. Meanwhile, iPad users have so far not seen this UI.