Google Drive’s Android app could soon debut a more intuitive video player, as uncovered in a recent APK teardown

Google may be about to release a new Material Design 3 video player to its Drive app for Android, continuing from last year’s improvements to video playback. Google had also in the past reduced startup delays and buffering while unveiling a new video player for desktop Drive with a new look and simpler navigation. It looks like this upgrade is heading to Android now. Analyzing the APK of Google Drive 2.25.110.0 reveals the code for the new video player although it is not yet available for users to use. We have also been able to see the design of the app by manually enabling it. The progress bar is still located at the bottom of the screen, but the playback controls that is the play/pause, skip, and rewind buttons are now located below the progress bar and not on the video itself. Unlike the previous version that had the settings, captions, and full screen option tucked away in the bottom right corner, the new one has made it easier to access these by placing them directly below the buttons. The feature is not available in the current build, but it might be made available with the next update. We will update this piece once it is available for everyone.