10. YouTube Easter Eggs.
Everybody loves Easter Eggs, so let’s start things off with some fun, albeit impractical, YouTube secrets. While you’re watching this Archive, type in the word “Awesome” and watch the progress bar. Funky, right?
Now, open YouTube in a new tab and search for any of the following: “Use the Force Luke,” “Doge Meme,” or “Do the Harlem Shake.” If you’re not interested in seeing things for yourself (or if you’re really just that lazy), what you’re missing is the ability to move the screen with the force of your mouse, some colorful font in the spirit of Doge, and YouTube’s rendition of the Harlem Shake.
9. Honing Your Search Skills.
Tired of having to skim through those unrelated search results every time you’re on YouTube? Don’t worry; there’s a way to define your searches better, so you only get the results you’re looking for. The next time you want to find it, just quote a video about the Strangest Holes on Earth, type in “AllinTitle,” colon, and then “Strangest Holes on Earth” in quotation marks. If you’re not concerned about accuracy and would be happy with videos about strange holes or just holes on earth, you can search with just commas between your search terms.
8. Keyboard Shortcuts.
Some YouTube users are far more comfortable using their keyboard rather than their mouse. Still, the video service doesn’t readily advertise convenient keyboard shortcuts for optimal viewing, so there mustn’t be any, right?
Wrong! There are actually a few different keys you’ll want to keep in mind the next time you’re lounging around watching videos. If you want to pause or play a video, press “k.” To rewind or fast forward 10 seconds, press “J” or “L” respectively, and to quickly mute and unmute a video, just press “m.”
If you don’t want to play the whole video, you can skip in increments of 10% by pressing the 1 to 9 keys.
7. YouTube Test Tube.
Love being among the first consumers to get to try out new products and features, even if they’re not guaranteed to go public?
With TestTube, you’ll be able to toy around with some experimental features that Google is testing for the future of YouTube. Over time, the features for testing will frequently change - for example, the only feature available at the release of this video was introducing 4K videos running at 60 fps. Attached to Test Tube is also the ability to sign up for research studies that come with the occasional perk and rewards.
6. Listen on Repeat.
Ever been so popular with a video or a song you found on YouTube that you wanted to play it over and over again but hated the pesky need to keep pressing the “replay” prompt?
There’s a pretty simple trick to repeat a video until you close the window, and it doesn’t require a download of any kind. Go to your video’s URL and delete everything before the word “YouTube.” Now, add the word “repeat” before the “.com.”
After pressing enter, you’ll be brought to Listen on Repeat, which will give you the option to listen or watch your favorite song until you can recite it word for word.
5. YouTube Video Quality Report.
We’ve all been there. You’re in the middle of the latest Francis rage video when, suddenly, the video starts to buffer. It’s paused for too long, testing your patience and forcing you to reduce quality and struggle through 144p quality. As you deal with a blurry video and the occasional hiccup, you’re left wondering who you should be cursing out. Is it an issue with Google, or maybe it is ISP delivering subpar service? Thanks to Google’s Video Quality Report, you can check to see how your ISP performs at certain times of the day. You’re also able to see which providers are best for HD playback and can only handle lower definition.
4. YouTube Regional Bypass.
There are few things more frustrating than watching a video only to find it restricted in your region.
So, how do you bypass this common annoyance? You could go the long route of purchasing a VPN or finding a way to download the video, or you can try a straightforward URL edit. On the video you’re blocked from watching, replace this text with “/v/” and voila! Unblocked video.
The method also tends to work with other pesky restrictions, like age-restricted videos.. and you heard it here first, kids! We know, great role models.
3. YouTube TV.
We discussed the desire some YouTube connoisseurs have to use their keyboard, and there’s something out there that caters YouTube to such users. YouTube has a feature previously known as YouTube Leanback. Now it is known as YouTube TV. The format is optimized strictly for keyboard-only implementation. You can scroll down using just the arrow keys. More importantly than just enhancing keyboard usage, YouTube TV allows users to link their device to a television to enjoy their favorite videos on the big screen.
2. Chronological Ordering.
Ever come across a new channel that you can’t help but need to binge-watch? Well, would you believe there’s a means of watching every video the creators ever published without having to go back and forth to the channel feed or spending the time creating your own playlist of their videos? It’s true, and all it takes is simple in addition to the URL.
Go to one of the channel’s videos and paste this string of text at the end of the link. When you press enter, the page will refresh, and to the right of the video will be a playlist showing everything the channel’s ever published in chronological order.
1. Easy GIFs.
Come across a brief visual segment in a video that you have to share with users of 9gag? For the uninformed, creating a GIF of a YouTube video could be a lengthy ordeal. But it doesn’t have to be.
All you need to do is navigate to the video you want to create a GIF from and, in the URL, input “GIF” in front of YouTube.com. You’ll be scrolled to GIFS.com with the video in question ready to be transformed.
The tough part is finding the exact spots you want to start and stop your GIF, but even that’s just a matter of a few mouse clicks. Finally, click “Create GIF,” and you’re ready to share your animated goodness!
nyce
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