Bug or feature? YouTube Shorts bug removes all buttons for a super clean experience

A few weeks ago, YouTube began rolling out its latest redesign to Android users, regardless of whether they liked it or not. If you hated the new design and just wished it were gone, then a new YouTube bug is granting you your wish, as users now complain that the Shorts interface has disappeared for them on mobile.

Many users are complaining on Reddit (1, 2, 3) that the YouTube Shorts user interface has disappeared completely for them on mobile. Users can’t see the usual like, dislike, comment, and share buttons on the right side of the interface. Even the channel name, logo, and subscribe button have disappeared from the bottom.

Inarguably, this is a much cleaner interface that lets you focus on the content in front of you. However, in all probability, this is a bug and not an intentional change, as the like, share, and comment buttons form the backbone of YouTube as a social streaming platform. Creator info is equally important for the video economy to flourish, and I can’t imagine YouTube would intentionally hide this either.

Users have reported that they have force-restarted the app, cleared cache and data, uninstalled and reinstalled it, and even restarted their phone — all to no avail.

For what it’s worth, my colleagues and I are not facing the issue, neither on Android, nor on iPhone, nor on the web. However, there are enough user reports to suggest that this is a fairly widespread bug that hasn’t yet been fully resolved.

We’ve reached out to Google to learn more about this bug. We’ll keep you updated when we learn more.