Opening YouTube on mobile normally just shows the logo and then the home screen when you use the app. While the TV version of the app has its own loading screen animation, the mobile version has not done anything like this until recently. But now, many users are beginning to report that they’re starting to see a short animation play when they open the YouTube mobile app — and it looks very familiar.
The animation is pretty basic, reminiscent of YouTube’s video players, with what looks like a progress bar and play button on the bottom left. It’s the same animation you’d see in the smart TV app. While some users seem not to have gotten it, I have personally seen this animation for a couple of weeks now. We reported initial sightings in April, but the feature seems to be rolling out more broadly now A Redditor posted a video of it loading earlier this week, and while it’s not much, it is better than nothing.
A similar splash screen animation first came to YouTube’s smart TV interface late last year, and some users reported seeing this mobile slpash screen as early as this spring. Some of us here at AP still aren’t seeing this on YouTube v18.36.39, the latest stable version available on the Play Store. We’ve also seen it not work in the newest beta version (18.37.34). Therefore, we are assuming this is a server-side rollout. It should eventually come to everyone in time, but if you don’t have it now, you’re not alone.
YouTube’s recent chime-and-animation splash screen was created together by Google and Antfood, a sonic branding studio, as well as Buck, a creative company focused on branding. On YouTube’s blog, the company explains what exactly the meaning is behind all parts of the three-second splash screen. Essentially, they wanted it to convey human emotion, with a melody that is both expressive and story-driven. We would say they accomplished this, but it does remind us a lot of the Netflix start-up screen.
