I've been watching YouTube wrong — this hidden mobile feature is a game changer

How the gesture works

Tap and hold anywhere on the video playback screen while watching a YouTube video on mobile. The video immediately plays at 2x speed. Keep your finger pressed for as long as you want faster playback.

Lift your finger and the video returns to normal speed. You can use this at any point — during intros, slow sections, or outros. It works in portrait or landscape mode and even works in Incognito mode.

Why it's better than the settings menu

Setting YouTube to 2x speed through settings means watching the entire video at that speed unless you change it back. If you want to change playback speed manually, you have to tap the gear icon (on the video player, select Playback speed, and choose a faster or slower option.

Most videos have sections worth your full attention and sections that don't. The tap-and-hold gesture gives you instant control to speed up or slow down moment by moment without opening any menus. I use it at the start of videos to get through intros without completely skipping them, so I don't miss anything important.

I also use it during reviews when creators cover features I don't care about. If you do want to watch an entire video at increased speed, use the settings menu. But for quick bursts to skip specific sections, the gesture is much faster.

It beats skipping ahead

YouTube's double-tap skip jumps ahead 10 seconds at a time, but you're guessing where to land. You might miss something important or have to tap multiple times. The tap-and-hold gesture lets you see and hear what's happening at 2x speed, so you know exactly when to slow down. You're not making blind jumps.

You can watch intros and filler at double speed while still understanding what's being said, then immediately return to normal speed when the actual content begins.