YouTube Tamba leak reveals 38 new icons and DMs: Here’s what it means

Tamba, if it ever ships, would give you something closer to a feed of friends.

Code in version 21.44.534 of YouTube's Android app points to an experimental social app by that name, according to an APK teardown by Android Authority.Tamba already has a brand name: the bold term next to the scribbled shape, which features a play button cut out of it.

Android Authority found 38 new icons that YouTube might add.

The package name, com.google.android.youtube.sandbox, makes Tamba look like another application, one that has its own search suggestions and file providers.They explain how the following requests, direct messaging, group chats, hearting of posts and replies via voice notes and Shorts work.

The client identifier for Android and iOS implies that there will be the iPhone edition.It seems like a completely new set of icons: home, search, create, camera, inbox, chat, stickers, and microphone.

There are crown, lock, and game controller icons, which don’t have pictures yet.Follow requests imply private profiles, something YouTube barely offers now.

Another string hints you could be followed before you've even signed up.The term "sandbox" generally refers to an isolated area in which experimentation can take place.

The code categorises Tamba icons as experimental, and the project itself is dubbed "Project Sandbox", but this is not a testing build since there is already another package designated as such in YouTube's code.No one knows what "mini app" and "Tamba" mean in the code strings.

It might just be a placeholder.You have probably already seen YouTube trending in this direction.

Direct messaging became available in June 2026, six years after it was originally turned off, on an invitation-only basis to users age 18 and above.

YouTube Tamba leak reveals 38 new icons and DMs: Here’s what it means November 4, 2026.