Unwanted YouTube feature makes videos look way worse
YouTube has quietly added a new setting that lets you watch Shorts in landscape mode, and it’s just as bad as it sounds.
Spotted byAndroid Authority, the feature is called Rotate Shorts and appears in the Accessibility section of the YouTube app’s settings on certain Android devices, like the Pixel 9 Pro XL.
When enabled, rotating your phone triggers Shorts to play horizontally, with side-aligned controls and a scrub bar at the bottom.
But there’s one big problem with the feature and it makes watching videos a mess.
YouTube’s new Rotate feature raises eyebrows
Shorts are vertical by design. Playing them in landscape shrinks the video into a small, awkward box that wastes screen space and ruins the experience. It’s like watching a movie on a calculator screen.
Disabling the setting keeps Shorts locked in portrait mode no matter how you hold your phone. Even with auto-rotate turned off, users don’t get the usual button that forces the screen into landscape.
Android Policereports the update is rolling out in phases through a server-side update, so not everyone will see the option right away. Thankfully, YouTube is not turning it on by default. Shorts will only rotate if you manually enable the toggle in settings.
It’s unclear whyYouTubeadded the feature. One theory is that it’s aimed at users with motor impairments who keep their phones mounted in landscape mode and are tired of tilting their heads to watch Shorts. This would also explain why it’s in the Accessibility settings.
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For most people, though, it’s a feature worth ignoring. If you like watching Shorts, keep them in portrait. And if you really like Shorts, you may want to consider a full Premium subscription, as the Google-owned platform opted toplace ads on Shortsfor users who pay for the cheaper Premium Lite service.
