Google Lens is finding new ways to make YouTube Shorts even more annoying

YouTube Shorts have never really been the streaming platform’s fan-favorite feature, and there’s no shortage of signs pointing to that. The format often pushes low-quality brain rot content and bombards users with repetitive videos. Now Google seems to have found an all-new way of making the experience feel frustrating.

I’m guilty of scrolling through the same sloppy feed now and then, and during one of my recent sessions, I encountered a rather annoying change. For reference, in May of last year, Google gave Shorts a handy Lens button to run a visual on objects within videos. It was a solid addition for those who don’t have access to Circle to Search. At the time, the Lens icon was located in Shorts’ top menu — that’s what appears to be changing now: the location.

On both Android and iOS, the Google Lens button is appearing smack in the middle of the screen whenever I pause a Short. This isn’t a huge deal for me, but I could see how this would be a major annoyance for someone who uses Shorts heavily throughout the day.

Not only does the button obstruct content when you pause a video, but it also sits right where most people would instinctively tap to resume playback. I’ve initiated Lens multiple times while trying to unpause a Short, and this would be worse for someone who watches several Shorts in one sitting.

The UI change hasn’t made its way out widely. I, for one, only have it on one Google account. Other members of the Android Authority team aren’t yet seeing the new obstructive new UI, either.

That said, this also doesn’t appear to be a one-off glitch. Over the last two months, users have taken to Reddit to complain about the centered Lens button, and they clearly aren’t happy.

Reddit user KolyaTheJester wrote:

The stupid button is so annoying when I’m unpausing, yeah, but the most annoying thing is that I’ve had it happen several times where it was in the way of something I was trying to read in the captions or onscreen or whatever and it’s such a pain.

A different Reddit user, PrincessBob69, wrote:

I have accidentally pressed it when I was listening to important information with my hands full. I couldn’t reach the close button at the top left.

One user suggested disabling camera permissions for YouTube to get rid of the Lens button, though that didn’t work for me and some other users who tried the workaround. There seems to be no way to stop the button from showing up, and for now, moving the shortcut to the center of the screen feels like a solution to a problem nobody had.

We’ve reached out to Google about the new Lens placement, and we’ll update this article if and when we hear back.