YouTube Music appears to be trialling a refreshed now playing experience that places album artwork at the centre of the interface.
The experimental design replaces the current layout, where cover art is displayed within a rounded square beneath the audio and video controls. Instead, artwork expands to fill the entire display, stretching behind interface elements and extending into areas normally occupied by the status and navigation bars.
Because the artwork is presented in a taller rectangular format, some album covers may be cropped more heavily than they are in the existing design. The change creates a more immersive visual presentation, although it could reduce the amount of artwork visible on screen.
The new look is not limited to audio playback. Early testing suggests the fullscreen treatment is also applied when music videos are playing, reflecting the growing popularity of portrait-oriented media formats that users have become familiar with through short-form video platforms.
The redesign introduces several other visual changes. Action buttons that appear in the playback controls adopt a transparent background, giving the interface a cleaner appearance. At the same time, YouTube Music appears to be moving away from artwork-driven colour themes on the now playing screen, favouring a more neutral presentation.
The approach may feel familiar to long-time Google music users, as it shares some similarities with the immersive playback screens previously seen in Google Play Music.
At present, the updated now playing interface remains in testing. There is no indication of a broader rollout yet, suggesting YouTube Music is still evaluating the design before deciding whether to make it available to all users.
