7 hidden YouTube features I use to make my life easier

23 Sep 2024, 22:35 by Sanuj Bhatia · Android Police

If you're like me, you may spend hours on your phone or favorite Chromebook scrolling through YouTube videos, catching up on tech news, checking out sports highlights, or winding down with music. Over the years, I picked up tricks that helped me get the most out of the streaming service. Here are the small YouTube hacks I stumbled upon that simplify my life, and I think they could do the same for you.

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7 Always stream videos in the best quality

Even when you're on mobile data, get the best quality

Until a few years ago, YouTube allowed us to select the video resolution and quality with one or two taps. Now, you'll navigate deep into the quality settings to stream videos in the best possible resolution. This isn't convenient, especially for those who watch a lot of videos, as adjusting the quality for each one isn't worthwhile.

YouTube offers a feature that automatically streams all videos in the highest quality available. Although you still can't lock the resolution to a specific level (likely because videos are uploaded in various qualities), you can set the service to use the best resolution available. Here's how to turn on this feature:

Open YouTube.
Tap the You tab.
Tap the Settings icon in the upper-right corner.
Select Video quality preferences.
Set quality preferences for mobile and Wi-Fi. Select Higher picture quality for the best resolution or Data saver for lower quality.

6 Change the skip duration for double-tap

10 seconds can be too long sometimes

Another aspect of YouTube that I find inconvenient is the default double-tap to seek duration of 10 seconds when using a new device. This can feel like too much time to skip ahead or back, depending on what you're watching. YouTube allows you to customize the skip duration to any time you prefer, up to a minute. Here's how to adjust the double-tap to seek duration in YouTube Settings:

Open the YouTube app.
Tap the You tab
Tap the Settings icon in the upper-right corner.
Select General.
Tap Double-tap to seek and choose your preferred duration.

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5 Enter and exit full-screen mode with this handy gesture

No need to press the full-screen button every time

I've noticed that many people enter full-screen mode on YouTube by tapping the screen and then selecting the full-screen button in the lower-right corner. This method can be inconvenient, especially on larger devices like Android tablets. YouTube has a built-in gesture that lets you switch to and from full-screen mode.

To enter full-screen mode, swipe up on the video. To exit full-screen mode, swipe down on the video, and it returns to the regular viewing mode.

4 Use YouTube in Incognito mode

Stop Google from tracking what you watch

While you can permanently pause your YouTube search and watch history, this affects your video recommendations. However, you might watch videos that you don't want to appear in your history, influence your recommendations, or be part of that YouTube session. Like browsing in Chrome's Incognito mode, you can also browse YouTube in Incognito mode. Here's how to activate it:

Open the YouTube app.
Tap the You tab.
Swipe left under your profile icon until you see the Turn on Incognito button.
Tap to turn it on. You can now browse privately.

3 Auto-delete YouTube activity from Google's servers

Keep your viewing habits private from Google

While I keep my search and watch history activated on YouTube for better recommendations, I don't want Google to hold onto my data forever. Google offers an option to delete your YouTube data after a specific period automatically. Here's how to set this up:

Open YouTube.
Tap the You tab.
Tap the Settings icon in the upper-right corner.
Go to Manage all history.
Select Auto-delete and then select the number of months after which you want Google to delete all data related to YouTube.
Tap Next and then tap Confirm.

2 Prevent your children from seeing offensive content

Restricted mode is your go-to safeguard

YouTube is a fantastic platform for discovering videos. Still, despite the company's efforts to filter out offensive content, some inappropriate material can still slip through. This can be concerning when your kids use the platform. YouTube offers a Restricted Mode to filter out offensive and adult content.

While YouTube admits it isn't 100% foolproof, I find it to be effective most of the time. However, Restricted Mode only applies to the device you activate it on. So, you can turn it on for your kids' devices while leaving it off on yours. Here's how to turn on Restricted Mode:

Open YouTube.
Tap the You tab.
Select Settings from the upper-right corner.
Open the General menu.
Turn on the Restricted Mode toggle.

1 Turn off the background blur in full-screen

Bring back those solid black bars

Every device has a different screen size and aspect ratio. YouTube used to display solid black bars around videos to maintain the original aspect ratio intended by the video uploader. However, a recent update replaced these black bars with a blurred version of the video that fills the screen in full-screen mode.

This can be distracting, and for some (like me) it can cause eye strain or dizziness. YouTube offers a simple option to turn off this ambient mode and bring back the black bars. Here's how to turn it off:

Open YouTube.
Play any video in full-screen mode.
Tap the Settings icon in the upper-right corner.
Tap Additional settings.
Turn off Ambient mode.

Make the most of YouTube with these easy hacks

These are a few tricks I use to improve my YouTube experience, but there's more to discover. YouTube has plenty of other features under the hood, like the ability to create GIFs from videos, share a link that starts at a specific time, and others. For more tips and tricks, check out our detailed guide on hidden YouTube features.