YouTube video playback getting glitchy or distorted after clicking on notification tab for some, issue acknowledged

Here’s the crux of the article in video form

YouTube has always been the go-to platform to watch videos and now you can catch up with your favorite streamers as well. With each update, developers strive to make it as user-friendly as possible.

However, sometimes things don’t go as planned as we have recently seen when users reported the ‘screen turning black when switching to full-screen mode’ or the ‘three videos per row’ issue.

Lately, some YouTube viewers have expressed concern with the video playback suddenly stretching vertically or becoming distorted (1,2,3,4,5,6,7).

According to the affected YouTube users, videos play fine until they click on the notification tab while watching them, after which the playback becomes distorted or glitchy.

Some say that the video glitches out for a split second every time they exit a YouTube tab.

This issue appears to have popped up in the last few days if the reports are anything to go by and has caused huge inconvenience for users. As it is, you have to refresh the tab in order to start watching the video normally again.

@YouTube What’s going on with the distorted videos when you click the notification bell?
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I have no idea why my youtube keeps doing this, to get this glitch I click on the notification icon or whatever, and it causes this effect
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As it turns out, YouTube support has acknowledged the video playback getting glitchy or distorted and assured that they are working on it. However, they did not share any timeframe for the fix.

That said, we’ll keep track of the situation and post an update if and when there are any further developments regarding the matter.

Note: You can also check our dedicated YouTube bugs and issues tracker.

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