The YouTube app on mobile devices is getting a new gesture that allows you to adjust the playback speed with relative ease. Not that the current method for adjusting it on mobile devices is difficult. But it certainly does take a little bit more time. And one might argue that it poses more of a challenge for some if they just aren’t sure where to find the option to change it.
That’s why this new gesture to adjust playback speed on YouTube is likely to be found useful. Especially with how much gestures are utilized on mobile devices for UI navigation. As reported by 9To5Google, the new gesture will let users more easily enable the 2x playback speed within the app. All users will need to do is long-press the screen during a video. You need to be in the YouTube app with a video currently playing. Then long-press anywhere and the 2x playback will kick in after a second or two.
Compared to the current method, this is definitely faster. As you won’t have to tap the screen then tap the gear icon to access the playback settings.
The YouTube playback speed gesture is currently in testing
This will eventually be a feature available to all users but right now it’s currently only available in testing. You also need to be a YouTube Premium subscriber to have access, and enable it in the YouTube Labs before it will work.
You can enable by heading here. Also worth noting is that this feature is only available in testing until August 13. So be sure to enable it before then if you want to give it a go. The neat thing is that the video will only continue to play at two times the speed while your finger is touching the screen. Think of it like a fast forward button on a remote that only works while you hold it down. It’s the same result here.
We noticed that after enabling it YouTube Labs, it didn’t work right away and took a few minutes before the app would recognize it was turned on.