iPhone YouTube letterbox transparency

[Vanarak19]

Anyone notice with latest update that YouTube no longer shows black bars on the sides? It now shows somewhat color matched semi transparent bars on each side depending on the colors shown on the edges of the video.

Is there any way to turn this off?

Edit: Found my answer. Ambient mode is in settings, odd feature.

 

[floral]

...Yeah, ambient mode is nice, but for some flat-color videos (like ones with a solid background), there's this cutoff point for the effect somewhere before the Comments section that really breaks the illusion.

 

[ryanflanders256]

On iOS 17 you need to watch a video first, then click:

Gear icon > Additional Settings > Ambient mode (toggle off)

For other platforms, see this link:

https://www.followchain.org/turn-on-off-ambient-mode-youtube/

I didn't find anything when searching for YouTube letterbox or black bars--"ambient mode" is what the dang setting is called!