What you need to know
- YouTube is introducing a test feature for Premium subscribers that allows users to jump to the most engaging part of a video.
- This feature uses a smart AI system to analyze viewing patterns and automatically suggests skipping to the best parts of a video through a quick double-tap interaction.
- Initially, this feature is being tested by a limited number of YouTube Premium users in the U.S.
YouTube is rolling out a test feature that'll let you jump right to the most interesting part of a video.
The latest scoop from the Creator Insider channel talks about a new feature for YouTube Premium subscribers. Now, you can hit a button to leap forward in whatever video you're watching (via 9to5Google).
YouTube is experimenting with an AI system that looks at how people watch videos to automatically take you to the best parts with a quick double-tap on your screen.
Currently, on the YouTube app for Android, if you double-tap on the right side of the screen, you'll skip forward 10 seconds, and if you do it on the left side, you'll jump back 10 seconds. Keep tapping quickly, and you'll keep moving in 10-second increments.
In the newest test going on, when you double-tap on the screen to move ahead, a new button pops up on certain videos. This button zips you forward to a spot in the video that AI thinks you'll like. Right now, it's just a trial, and only a few YouTube Premium users in the U.S. get to try it out.
"The way it works is, if a viewer double-taps to skip ahead on an eligible segment, we’ll show a jump-ahead button that will take them to the next point in the video that we think they’re aiming for," as per YouTube's Creator Insider channel. This feature will also be available to creators while watching their own videos."
For those of us who can't wait to get to the good part of a video, having an easy way to tap straight to the most popular section, as decided by AI, could be super handy.
However, this feature is currently in testing mode for a select group of YouTube Premium users in the U.S. It's not yet one of the experimental features open to all Premium subscribers.
Features like these usually get a bigger, worldwide launch after they've been tested, so it'll be interesting to see if users actually find them helpful.
