Ever seen a YouTube tutorial where the tutor seemingly moves at the speed of a supercomputer? YouTube web playback speed feature has been a saviour on many occasions, making some otherwise unusable video materials on the platform very useful.
The ability to choose how fast the video plays is such a useful one; one can choose to see videos in such a slow speed that it appears like a slow-motion effect. Unfortunately, this feature was only available on the web platform for a short time, now YouTube is rolling out this useful feature to its mobile platform. Check out it all the new updates:
Announcing the update, YouTube software engineer Pallavi Powale held that the seemingly simple feature was not actually simple in its implementation. The engineering team had to make sure that the altering of playback speed does not adversely affect the quality of the rendered video. They also had to ensure that sounds on fast playing videos do not make the usual shrilling sound that fast-forwarded videos make and that slowed video sounds do not descend to a drool.
To achieve this quality balance, YouTube adjusts the video quality “to be only as high as [the app] can download dependably”. This was a more difficult task on the mobile platform due to the limitations and variations in capacity and network strength across mobile devices, unlike Desktop devices.
The feature is already live for a lot of people — to try it out, simply tap on the hamburger menu at the top of the app’s interface. After that, choose “Playback Speed” from the menu that pops up and chooses the speed you prefer.
YouTube mobile playback speed is such a welcome feature and will surely make the app more useful and engaging. Good job YouTube. The platform has grown immensely since its creation over a decade ago.
It has tayed brethren!
When YouTube launched 12 years ago, it was a single website that supported one video format, 320×240 at 4:3 aspect ratio. Today, YouTube lets you watch any combination of SD, HD, 4K, 360, 3-D, and live video on nearly every device with an internet connection – from desktops to phones, tablets to TVs, game consoles, and even VR headsets.
