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YouTube Rolls Out Genre-Matched Like Animations in Ongoing Player Redesign

The feature comes from YouTube’s October player refresh with a selective rollout.

Overview

  • Roughly 20 distinct effects trigger on likes, tailored to categories such as travel, sports, music, film, pets, cooking, and horror.
  • The animations appear on eligible longer-form videos and are not currently available on YouTube Shorts.
  • Availability varies by account and device as the feature continues a staged rollout across web, mobile, and TV apps.
  • A compilation posted by software designer Andreas Storm on X showcased the full set and prompted broader coverage and verification.
  • The Like effects are part of a wider update that introduced translucent controls, refined double‑tap seeking, and threaded comment replies.