YouTube iOS app getting ambient mode, plus zoom and rewind gestures

In addition to new pinch and swiping gestures, YouTube is adding a new, darker theme to its iOS app, online experience, and smart TV apps.

After months of experiments — not all of them popular, YouTube has announced a redesign for most of the ways users can watch its service. The new look has begun rolling out, and the company says that the new gesture features are now in the iOS and Android apps.

"Starting today, we are rolling out a new look and several features that offer a more modern and immersive viewing experience while also improving how users watch videos," wrote YouTube's User Interface and Experience Director Nate Koechley, in a blog post. "But don't worry, the same YouTube you know and love is still at our core."

The most visible change is the addition of Ambient Mode. "Using dynamic color sampling, ambient mode introduces a subtle effect," says Koechley, "so the app background color adapts to match the video."

The new features include having "links in video descriptions change to buttons," and main controls like Share and Download are "now formatted to minimize distractions." The subscribe button has also been redesigned to make it easier to find.

On iOS, in landscape mode, users can now pinch to zoom — and the picture will stay then stay zoomed in.

YouTube is also introducing a new feature called "precision seeking."

"Whether you're on desktop or your mobile device, simply drag or swipe up while seeking to display a row of thumbnails in the video player," continues Koechley, "and you'll be able to make fine-tuned adjustments to get to the exact part in each video."

The iOS updates appear to be taking some time to roll out worldwide. YouTube has also not detailed whether it counts Apple TV hardware as one of the platforms that it is going to present the new theme.