It's amazing to think that 10 years ago there was hardly any online video. YouTube was just one of many sites trying to find an audience, and it could have shut down and disappeared at any time. A decade later, it's hard to imagine the world, online or offline, without it.
News, instructions, cat videos, instant celebrities, music, humor, emotional stories and more are all within a split-second search. And YouTube is still expanding with 300 hours of new video uploaded every minute. Of course, if you just go to YouTube and click "Play," you're missing out on some cool features. Let's take a look at some little-known tricks that could change your video-watching experience.
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1. YouTube on your TV
Turning your TV into a computer monitor isn't hard, but it can make some common programs and websites a little harder to use. You have to deal with small type, icons that are harder to see from a distance and you won't always know exactly where that small mouse cursor is.YouTube has a simple solution. Head over to https://www.youtube.com/tv to load an interface designed just for TVs, or if you just want YouTube with less clutter. You can easily navigate videos using the keyboard arrow keys, "S" to search and "G" to open the left column guide.
2. Turn off annotations
You're watching an amazing video but you keep getting distracted with those little clickable messages that pop up over the video asking you to subscribe, showing other information. Most YouTube creators use these sparingly, but some go overboard and it can ruin the video.Fortunately, you can turn these off. Just click the gear icon at the lower right of the video player and next to "Annotations" click "Off."
3. Change your video speed
Have you ever been watching a YouTube video and something amazing happens, but it's really fast? It would be nice if you could slow the video down to get a better look.There are entire YouTube channels devoted to slow-motion videos, like this one that shows what happens when a CD shatters. However, you don't need a high-speed camera to slow things down.
On any video, click the gear icon in the lower-right corner of the video player and click the drop-down box next to "Speed."
4. Get smoother streaming
YouTube is fairly smart when it comes to picking video quality settings. It will adjust the quality based on your Internet connection speed so you don't get too much buffering (i.e. waiting around for the video to load).Unfortunately, if you have an unstable Internet connection that speeds up and slows down, it can throw YouTube for a loop. When your connection speeds up, YouTube will try to push you to a higher video quality setting, and then you're stuck buffering when the connection slows down again.
Fortunately, if that starts happening, you can take control. Click the gear icon in the lower-right corner of the video player and see what the Quality setting is.
You can also use this to force YouTube to a higher quality setting than it would normally go for your connection. You'll be waiting longer for the video to start playing, but it should be smooth once it gets going.
5. Share a video at the right time
You found a hilarious video you want to share with a friend. Unfortunately, it doesn't get good until three minutes in. The first part is boring and you don't want your friend to stop watching.Cue up the video to the start of the section you want your friend to see. Then right-click the video and select "Get video URL at current time." Copy the link that appears and paste it into an email or on Facebook. When anyone clicks on the link, the video will start at the exact spot you wanted.
Handy hint:
Copying the link using the CTRL+C command doesn't always work. If you
test the link and it doesn't start the video at the right time, do this
instead: Right-click the video and select "Get video URL at current
time." Then right-click on the link and select "Copy." Then paste it and
it should work.
Bonus: Autoplay
YouTube has an autoplay feature that continues you to a new video when your current video is done. It chooses the next video off of related videos to the one you're watching and what else you've watched in the past.But what if you want to stay on the same video? You can turn autoplay on or off from any video. Just click the gear icon in the lower-right corner of the video player, and next to "Autoplay" click "Off."
