YouTube is attempting to enhance our tactile usage of the platform, adding in a new method of scrubbing through videos as well as a new mute/unmute button for search query-related results.
YouTube and its devs, for all their faults, have always been very experimentative with the platform, and initiatives such as the Creator Insider channel videos really help bridge the gap between creator and consumer. It’s a good way to keep track of any current updates, or future ones swaying on the horizon. At any rate, let’s take a closer look at the features we have available today. Specifically, let’s talk shop about scrubbing through videos. While scrubbing’s definitely much easier on a laptop, a desktop, or just in general with a mouse, mobile phone users don’t have it that easy. Of course, they don’t exactly have it difficult either, it’s just an app really, but scrubbing can be very annoying. You can slip and miss, keep aiming for the two-pixel wide line and hitting elsewhere, and so on and so forth. In the past, devs have attempted to help making scrubbing much easier and accessible for contemporary users. For example, scrolling through videos will reveal extra thumbnails to ensure that you’re headed in the right direction.
Of course, YouTube’s devs finally noticed such a flaw and decided to expand on the thumbnail idea in order to help accommodate users facing difficulties with scrubbing. In the near future, users will be able to click on a YouTube video’s timeline, swipe up, and presto! Thumbnails for different parts of the video will show up, and users can select whichever point of the video they wish to be transported to. Again, a very clever response from the devs, and everyone else gets to have an easier time with videos and such. Or, more specifically, gets to have an easier time while also exploring the video in a short nutshell.
Our second feature that requires discussing is the mute/unmute button for search queries. Typically, the new experimental feature is muted, but you can toggle the mute option off, allowing the app to send you relevant videos. Google will inspect a user’s average search history on YouTube, and record them for future posterity. While predicted results aren’t often the best, with YouTube’s own Recommended bar handing out both treasures and bad content with equal enthusiasm, relying on a user’s search history will definitely help give more relevant searches. These will appear in the search bar, complete with playable previews.
Read next: YouTube Announces New Updates To Help Limit The Spread Of Spam And Misuse On The App
YouTube and its devs, for all their faults, have always been very experimentative with the platform, and initiatives such as the Creator Insider channel videos really help bridge the gap between creator and consumer. It’s a good way to keep track of any current updates, or future ones swaying on the horizon. At any rate, let’s take a closer look at the features we have available today. Specifically, let’s talk shop about scrubbing through videos. While scrubbing’s definitely much easier on a laptop, a desktop, or just in general with a mouse, mobile phone users don’t have it that easy. Of course, they don’t exactly have it difficult either, it’s just an app really, but scrubbing can be very annoying. You can slip and miss, keep aiming for the two-pixel wide line and hitting elsewhere, and so on and so forth. In the past, devs have attempted to help making scrubbing much easier and accessible for contemporary users. For example, scrolling through videos will reveal extra thumbnails to ensure that you’re headed in the right direction.
Of course, YouTube’s devs finally noticed such a flaw and decided to expand on the thumbnail idea in order to help accommodate users facing difficulties with scrubbing. In the near future, users will be able to click on a YouTube video’s timeline, swipe up, and presto! Thumbnails for different parts of the video will show up, and users can select whichever point of the video they wish to be transported to. Again, a very clever response from the devs, and everyone else gets to have an easier time with videos and such. Or, more specifically, gets to have an easier time while also exploring the video in a short nutshell.
Our second feature that requires discussing is the mute/unmute button for search queries. Typically, the new experimental feature is muted, but you can toggle the mute option off, allowing the app to send you relevant videos. Google will inspect a user’s average search history on YouTube, and record them for future posterity. While predicted results aren’t often the best, with YouTube’s own Recommended bar handing out both treasures and bad content with equal enthusiasm, relying on a user’s search history will definitely help give more relevant searches. These will appear in the search bar, complete with playable previews.
Read next: YouTube Announces New Updates To Help Limit The Spread Of Spam And Misuse On The App
