YouTube – Tech Savvy Life

Five Useful YouTube Features

YouTube has been around since 2005, and it’s one of the most visited websites in the world. Tons of features have been added to the YouTube website and apps over the years.

RAYMOND OGLESBY @RaymondOglesby2
October 13, 2022

YouTube has been around since 2005, and it’s one of the most visited websites in the world. Tons of features have been added to the YouTube website and apps over the years. Here are some features you may not know about.

This is for devices using YouTube. Screenshots are from iPhone XR running iOS 15.6+

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Save Videos to Watch Later

You have probably been browsing YouTube and come across a video that looks interesting. What if you do not have the time to watch it right at that moment? The Watch Later feature is perfect for this.

Watch Later is essentially just a playlist that you can add videos to for watching later. It’s great for saving videos that you do not want to forget about, and it works everywhere you can access the YouTube website or app.

First, find a YouTube video you want to watch later. Next, tap the Save icon in the toolbar below the video. Now, from the Menu that opens, select the Watch Later option. Refer to the below image:

YouTube Features 1 — Selecting Watch Later option

Set YouTube Videos to Fill Your iPhone Screen

It’s pretty common for your phone’s display to have a different aspect ratio than YouTube videos. You can pinch to zoom to fill the full screen when watching a video, but you have to do that every time.

You can actually make it so videos will always fill the full screen. You will not have to pinch-to-zoom every time, but you will be able to zoom out if too much of the video is being cut off.

First, open the YouTube app on your iPhone or iPad device. Next, double-tap your profile icon in the top right-hand corner. Now, from the Manu that opens, select

Settings > General

and toggle Zoom to Fill Screen to ON. See the below image:

YouTube Features 2 — Enabling Zoom to fill the screen

Skip Forward/Backward Fast

Here’s a quick tip that will save you a lot of time watching videos on the YouTube mobile app. Rather than using the seek bar to skip forward and back in the video, simply double-tap the left or right side of the video. See the following image:

YouTube Features 5 — Skip Forward or Backward

Change the Double-Tap Skip Time

Speaking of double-tapping to skip forward or back in a video, you can adjust the length of these skips. By default, it’s 10-seconds. You can customize this length from 5 to 60 seconds. It’s a great thing to do if you find yourself tapping the video too much.

First, open the YouTube app on your iPhone or iPad, device. Next, double-tap your profile icon in the top right-hand corner. Now, from the Manu that opens, select

Settings > General

and select the Skip Forward and Back option. Next, choose one of the time increments from the Menu. Refer to the below image:

YouTube features 3 — Set timer for Skip Forward and Backward

Speed Up or Slow Down a Video

YouTube videos do not have to be played at the speed of how they were uploaded. You can speed up or slow down any video you want. This is super handy for rewatching moments in slow motion or getting through long videos a little faster.

The Playback Speed controls can be accessed on the web and mobile apps. You can select a speed anywhere between 0.25- 2 times the normal speed, with 1 being the normal speed.

First, open the YouTube app and play a video. Next, tap the screen once to bring up the toolbar, Now, tap the Settings icon located in the upper right-hand corner of the video frame.

Next, in the Menu that pops up, select Playback speed. In the list that appears, select the speed you would like. See the below image:

YouTube Features 4 — Set timer for Playback speed

Now, close the Menu, and the video will resume at the selected speed. If you need to change it back to the regular speed, repeat the above and change the speed to 1 for normal speed.

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How to Use Picture-in-Picture from YouTube on iPhone

YouTube on Android has had Picture-in-Picture support for several years, but the iPhone app lagged behind. That finally changed, and you can now watch YouTube in a floating window on your iPhone or iPad, too.

RAYMOND OGLESBY @RaymondOglesby2
October 11, 2022

YouTube on Android has had Picture-in-Picture support for several years, but the iPhone app lagged behind. That finally changed, and you can now watch YouTube in a floating window on your iPhone or iPad, too. Let’s explore this feature.

This is for the iPhone and iPad. Screenshots are from iPhone XR running iOS 15.6+

Dilbert and Finance — *Copyright Scott Adams, Inc./Distributedsfd by Universal Uclick for UFS*

It was a long journey for iOS and iPadOS devices to get Picture-in-Picture for YouTube. The feature started out as an experiment for Premium subscribers in August 2021. A few months later, the experiment ended. In July 2022, Google started rolling it out for real.

Non-Premium Members: Everyone in the U.S. can use Picture-in-Picture in the YouTube app regardless of whether they have a Premium subscription or not. PiP only works with non-music videos.

Premium Members: Premium subscribers in all areas of the world can use Picture-in-Picture in the YouTube app for both music and non-music videos.

First, we need to make sure your iPhone or iPad has Start PiP Automatically enabled. To do so, open the Settings app. Refer to the below image:

Next, go to General. See the below image:

Now, select Picture in Picture. See the following image:

PIP 3 — Accessing the Picture in Picture option

Next, make sure Start PiP Automatically is toggled to ON. Refer to the below image:

Using Picture-in-Picture

Using Picture-in-Picture mode is actually very easy. The feature is enabled by default once you get it. First, watch a video and swipe up on the bottom of the screen to go to your Home screen. The video will display the PiP mode. See the below image:

Next, if you want to double-check to make sure Picture-in-Picture is ON or turn it OFF, you can do so in the YouTube settings under:

Settings > General > Picture-in-Picture

and toggle it ON or OFF. See the following image:

PIP 6 — Enabling Picture-in-Picture on YouTube

Picture-in-Picture is a great feature to have on a phone or tablet. Now you enjoy YouTube on your Apple device while being able to do other things at the same time.