YouTube is an online video sharing and social media platform that is the go-to form of entertainment for more than 2.29 billion people worldwide. You can watch videos for fun, learn a new skill from tutorial videos or become a YouTuber and earn money. Unfortunately, the platform is not without glitches. For example, you may encounter the YouTube app on iPhone not working problem, or it might be unresponsive on your Android device. Whatever the case, you can get it working again by clearing the app cache, updating the app and phone software, and disabling VPN.
Did you know YouTube is full of secrets? Let’s uncover them so you can have the best experience using the platform.
Deactivate Auto-Play Videos
Auto-play is enabled by default. So YouTube automatically plays the next video. You can disable this feature if you don’t want to auto-play the suggested videos.
Launch the YouTube app and go to Settings > open the Autoplay menu > turn it off.
Share links Beginning at a Particular Time
YouTube allows users to create a shareable link starting at a particular time. So you don’t need to ask your friends to fast-forward to a specific time.
Go to YouTube on the web > play a video of your choice > choose the Share button > enable the checkbox next to Start At > choose the specific time from which you want the video to start > click Copy > Share the video.
Turn on Captions
Are you at work and forgot your headphones? No problem, YouTube has a quick fix. You can turn on the captions in the video you are watching by clicking the CC icon.
If you are watching a video in a different language and having trouble understanding, you can select Subtitles > Auto-translate. Then, choose your preferred language.
Access YouTube’s Restricted Mode
It is obvious not to accidentally want your child to watch something offensive on YouTube. To avoid such a situation, you can enable Restricted Mode on YouTube and hide mature content.
Go to the General menu in Settings and switch on the Restricted Mode toggle.
Incognito Mode
You will see video recommendations on YouTube according to your watch and search history. It is possible to pause these recommendations before giving your phone to someone else or your little one. For this, you can enable Incognito Mode and browse the platform privately.
Launch the app on your phone > tap on your profile picture > choose Turn On Incognito.
Watch Videos in Picture-In-Picture Mode
You may want to multitask while watching a video on YouTube; this is where picture-in-picture options come in handy. In this mode, the video is shrunk into a smaller square, and you can move it around the screen. However, this feature is available only to premium YouTube users.
On your Android device, you can turn on this option by going to Settings > Apps & Notifications > Advanced > Special Access > Picture-in-picture and choosing YouTube. Then, toggle the switch on.
You can enable this option on your iPhone by visiting YouTube on the web and signing in to your Google Account. First, you must ensure you are a Premium subscriber. Then, find Picture-in-picture on iOS and click Try it Out. Then, you can start a video of your choice on the YouTube app for iPhone users and start Picture-in-picture. The video will continue playing while you message or do other tasks.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Do you use YouTube on your desktop? If so, it is recommended to learn some keyboard shortcuts, so it is easier to navigate around the platform.
Open YouTube and choose your profile picture. Then, choose Keyboard Shortcuts to go through the list of all the keyboard combinations that will help you navigate and watch videos.
Dark Mode
A bright white screen in the middle of the night may hurt your eyes. So it is recommended to switch on the Dark theme offered by YouTube. This will ensure the light on the screen does not hurt your eyes.
Open the app and go to Settings. Then, you need to slide the toggle switch on. You can click the three dots on your computer and choose the Dark theme. Then, toggle the switch on.
Save Videos for Offline Viewing
If you are a premium YouTube subscriber, you can easily download and view videos offline. The downloaded videos will remain for thirty days and can be viewed without an Internet connection.
On your mobile, open the YouTube app and play the video you want. Then, tap the Download button and find the videos in the Library > Downloads menu.
Furthermore, you can personalize your download preferences in Settings. Go to Settings and choose Background & Downloads > choose Download Quality > enable Download over Wi-Fi only.
The Bottom Line
Learn these YouTube hacks to make the most of the platform. Memorize them before playing your next video.