Journalism of Courage
Advertisement
Premium

Here are five hidden features to improve your YouTube experience

Not all YouTube features are that obvious, so we've listed down the ones you may not have caught

youtube hero featured

YouTube is the world’s most popular streaming platform, with a huge slice of the population spending hours on it every day. And if you’re devoting that much time to it, it’s best to do it the right way. The YouTube app offers a ton of features to make your viewing experience more pleasant, but while some of them, like the Quality controls, are right in front of you, others are not so obvious and may be stowed away behind various menus. So today, we check out some of these hidden features to up your YouTube game.

Pause YouTube search and watch history

YouTube’s gotten pretty good at suggesting stuff you want to see, in order to get you to spend more time on the app. It does this by using your search and watch history. But what if you wish to hand your device over to another person for a while to, say, play their music? That has the potential to mess up your suggestions. Thankfully, YouTube comes with a feature that helps workaround this problem.

Doing this will force YouTube to stop registering your searches and the videos you’ve watched, helping keep your video recommendations relevant. You can also use the feature as an incognito mode for the YouTube app, much like the one found in all browsers.

Set a reminder to take a break

YouTube is designed to be addictive and you can quickly find yourself jumping from one video to the next for hours on end if you let it happen. To stop that you’d need some great willpower — or you could use YouTube’s built-in “Remind me to take a break” feature. The feature is pretty self-explanatory. It reminds you to take a break, while another variant of the feature reminds you of your bedtime.

Disable YouTube’s autoplay next video

Another thing that can help if you’ve got a crippling YouTube addiction is the disable autoplay feature on the app. Turn it on and YouTube stops its default behaviour of playing the next suggested video automatically. To do so, follow these steps:

Check video transcripts

If you’re having a hard time following speech or wish to note down things said in a video, then YouTube’s once again got you covered with its transcription feature. Using it kills the need for pausing the video every few seconds. Do note that these steps can only be reproduced on the desktop site as the mobile app has yet to gain the feature.

Create a sharable link starting at a specific time

Another cool trick you can pull off on the desktop site is getting the video to play from a specific time when a shared link is tapped.

Story continues below this ad

 

Read Next Articles

Technology on smartphone reviews, in-depth reports on privacy and security, AI, and more. We aim to simplify the most complex developments and make them succinct and accessible for tech enthusiasts and all readers. Stay updated with our daily news stories, monthly gadget roundups, and special reports and features that explore the vast possibilities of AI, consumer tech, quantum computing, etc.on smartphone reviews, in-depth reports on privacy and security, AI, and more. We aim to simplify the most complex developments and make them succinct and accessible for tech enthusiasts and all readers. Stay updated with our daily news stories, monthly gadget roundups, and special reports and features that explore the vast possibilities of AI, consumer tech, quantum computing, etc.

Tags:
  • tips and tricks youtube
Edition
Install the Express App for
a better experience
Featured
Trending Topics
News
Multimedia
Follow Us
Trump’s gamble in IranImplications for the US, its allies, and a weakened Tehran
X