What is YouTube's 'Ambient Mode' and how to enable it
YouTube has a feature called 'Ambient Mode,' to make video-watching more immersive by adding lighting effects. The mode shows colors from the video around the edge of the video player, creating an immersive environment, just like watching TV in a dark room. The feature can be enabled on computers, iPhones, and Android devices. Let us see how to use it.
Enabling Ambient Mode on mobile devices
To use Ambient Mode on iPhone or Android, you'll first have to enable dark mode on your device. On Android, you can do this by heading over to Settings > Display and turning on "Dark Theme." For iPhone users, the path is Settings > Display & Brightness and then enabling "Dark." Once dark mode is active, YouTube automatically enables Ambient Mode.
How to test it?
To test Ambient Mode, just open the YouTube app and play a video. The colors from the video should appear around the video area. If not, or if you want to disable it, press the gear icon in the top-right corner of the player, select "Additional Settings," and use the "Ambient Mode" toggle to turn it on or off.
Enabling Ambient Mode on desktop
On YouTube's desktop site, Ambient Mode requires you to activate dark mode. You can open YouTube.com in a web browser on Windows, Mac, Linux, or Chromebook. From there, click your profile icon or three dots in the top-right corner and select "Appearance: Device Theme." Click "Dark Theme" from the menu to activate dark mode and automatically enable Ambient Mode when you play a video.
Managing Ambient Mode on YouTube's desktop site
To disable Ambient Mode but keep dark mode on, users can click the gear icon in the player's bottom bar and turn off "Ambient Mode." To switch back to light mode on the site, they click the profile icon or three dots and choose "Appearance: Dark" and select "Light Theme." This way, users can customize their viewing experience as per their liking.
