Back in February, YouTube Music began testing aredesign of its casting interfacewith a bottom-placed sheet for target devices rather than a floating window. This wasn’t particularly surprising given that the iOS version of YouTube Music already follows this design language for the casting sheet, and this was considered Google’s way of bringing parity between the Android and iOS versions of its streaming service. Nearly three months after YouTube Music began testing this redesign, we can now report that it’s widely available to most users.
YouTube Music sucks for podcasts
Wrong platform, Google
Reporting by9to5Googlereveals that the rollout is part of a server-side push, potentially enabled with YouTube Musicversion 6.49. This redesign of the casting sheet can display more targets/devices to the user, thanks to the bottom sheet. However, things get a little tricky when the casting session begins, as theStop Castingbutton has been removed, and so has the Pause/Play icon to control the audio while casting.
Old casting menu vs New
When we first encountered these omissions, we presumed it was accidental, hoping that they would be rectified when it’s ready for a wider rollout, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. So instead of simply tapping the Stop Casting button, users will now have to tapThis phonefrom the sheet, which will stop the casting session and switch the audio back to the smartphone.
This could take some time to get used to
Old casting interface vs New
As 9to5 notes, the absence of the Pause/Play button means users will now have to rely on the apps' Now Playing interface or use Android’s system controls. Fortunately, the cast menu redesign leaves the volume slider untouched, so you will still be able to quickly access some music controls within this revamped UI. Another key distinction worth pointing out is the significantly smaller preview/album cover in this redesigned casting interface.
There’s no doubt that this updated UI will seem jarring, particularly if you’re accustomed to the old casting menu. But it certainly makes things more streamlined, especially with easy access to all your connected devices from the same sheet, even during casting. By contrast, the older center-positioned floating cast menu and the casting interface couldn’t accommodate multiple controls due to space constraints.
