I know I sound like an angry old man and Im probably one out of ten people in the world without a smartphone but yeah... I cant be the only one who thinks these new layouts suck
No, it sucks. On a smartphone or tablet, you can just use the YT app, though, and not have to bother with it [directly]. But, on a tablet with 1080P or better, using the browser for it looks just as bad as on a PC, even with everything upscaled for the DPI. So, you can use the simplified app, or the poorly laid out website. Neither is as good as their older wider design would be, even on the small screen (unless it's a low-PPI LCD, but in that case, you're screwed trying to do anything but texting and calling, IMNSHO).
I've generally found using a browser on my phone to be preferable to most apps for websites, except for websites that specifically try to cram everything together for narrow screens, and IMDB (because IMDB's website is too busy even w/ adblock, but the mobile site/app lacks several links--it's a no-win scenario without always suffering from narrow columns). I use plain old
www.eBay.com, FI, because the app is comparatively annoying, on a <5" screen. Ironic, isn't it?