Solving YouTube's Embed Issue: Making Videos Fit Any Screen

In the world of web design, providing a seamless user experience on all devices is crucial. However, a common problem arises with non-responsive video embeds from platforms like YouTube. These fixed-size embeds don't adjust to different screen sizes, causing issues on both desktop and mobile.

On desktop screens, the video doesn't fill the available space, leaving empty areas around it.

Meanwhile, on mobile screens, the fixed height of the video creates dimension issues, resulting in a nearly square-shaped video display with unnecessary black spaces surrounding it.

To fix this, we use CSS adjustments to make videos adapt to their container's width. This ensures a smooth viewing experience across devices, without overflow or aspect ratio problems.

To apply this to your embed try these steps:

1. Wrap the iframe

To wrap the iframe, place <div class="responsive-container"> tag before the <iframe> tag, and the closing </div> after the </iframe>. So it would be something like this: <div class="responsive-container"><iframe></iframe></div>

2. Add the CSS

Add the following code:

<style>
.responsive-container {
        position: relative;
        width: 100%;
        padding-bottom: 56.25%;            
        height: 0;
    }
    .responsive-container iframe {
        position: absolute;
        top: 0;
        left: 0;
        width: 100%;
        height: 100%;
    }
</style>

This code can be added after the closing. You can also use this single line code:


<style>.responsive-container {position:relative;width:100%;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;}.responsive-container iframe {position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;}</style>

Results

When implementing this code to make videos responsive, you'll notice significant improvements in how your content is displayed across different devices.

Desktop:
On desktop screens, the video now seamlessly fills the available space, eliminating empty areas and creating a more visually appealing layout.

Mobile:
Similarly, on mobile screens, the video now adjusts its dimensions properly, eliminating the square-shaped display and unnecessary black spaces, resulting in a cleaner and more engaging viewing experience

Conclusion

By making videos responsive, Shopify store owners and web designers can provide a better online experience for their audience. With videos that fit any screen, you can engage customers effectively and showcase your products or content seamlessly.