YouTube Music’s Now Playing Gets a Major UI Cleanup and Queue Upgrade

YouTube Music rolls out a redesigned Now Playing screen on Android and iOS, bringing a cleaner layout, a new progress scrubber, and a smarter queue. The most noticeable change is the relocation of key controls: the Song/Video toggle no longer sits at the top (Cast still lives beside the three-dot overflow), and the control row now appears directly beneath the track title and artist name. It doesn’t dramatically improve one-handed reach, but it does tidy up the visual hierarchy.

The progress bar gets a makeover, too. The classic playhead is gone, replaced by a boxier scrubber that thickens on touch for easier, more precise seeking. Below that, secondary actions shift into a tighter carousel. After thumbs up/down, comments, and Save, you’ll find Lyrics—part of a broader simplification that removes the old bottom tab row. The Video/Song switcher now lives in this carousel, followed by Share, Download, and Radio.

Swipe up—or just tap—to open the revamped “Up Next” section. A new drag handle reveals the current playlist or radio context immediately, and a dual-pane view lets you scan about four upcoming tracks at a glance, with the option to expand the queue. This view isn’t sticky; it closes when you exit Now Playing, keeping the main player uncluttered.

Related and Lyrics now appear as sheets that can expand to full screen. They’re no longer theme-matched, but each shows the currently playing track with a quick play/pause at the top for minimal context switching. Podcasts get the same visual and interaction treatment for consistency across content types.

The redesign is rolling out via a server-side update. If it hasn’t landed for you yet, a quick force stop from App Info or removing the app from your recent apps can nudge it along—old-school, but effective.

SEO title ideas

1. YouTube Music’s Now Playing Redesign Brings a Smarter Queue and New Scrubber

2. YouTube Music Refresh: Cleaner Now Playing UI, Dual-Pane Queue, Better Controls

3. YouTube Music Updates Now Playing With Compact Actions and Boxy Scrubber

4. YouTube Music Overhauls Now Playing on Android and iOS: Here’s What Changed

5. New YouTube Music Player: Song/Video Toggle Moved, Lyrics Sheet, Smarter “Up Next”

6. YouTube Music’s Now Playing Gets a Major UI Cleanup and Queue Upgrade

Meta description (≤160 chars)
YouTube Music redesigns Now Playing on Android and iOS with a boxy scrubber, compact action carousel, and a dual-pane “Up Next” queue. Here’s what’s new.