YouTube launches video chapter division in its iOS and Android app

Finding a specific playback point in a large video can sometimes be a difficult task. To make it simple, a little over a month ago, YouTube began testing a feature in its Android app that would easy access to specific parts of the reproduction.

Now, that feature is official and is already being implemented in the YouTube application for both iOS and Android users. However, it is a prerequisite that the creator has previously divided the video into chapters or sections by adding time stamps in the description.

The key is in the description of the video

I’m sure that once, watching a certain video, you’ve skipped some parts to get to what you were really interested inespecially if the content in question was quite long. With the new YouTube feature, that action will be much easier from now on.

Google has introduced a chapter division in the video playbar, so viewers can access to specific points of the reproduction easily and quickly. It is, therefore, a feature that complements that list of sections – with their corresponding minute – that some creators added in the description of the video.

0:00 We heard you and added Video Chapters.
0:30 You liked it.
1:00 Now it’s official: Video Chapters are here to stay.
1:30 Creators, try Chapters by adding timestamps starting at 0:00 to your video description. Viewers, scrub to find exactly what you’re looking for.
2:00 Enjoy! pic.twitter.com/bIHGsGVmyW

– YouTube (@YouTube) May 28, 2020

In fact, for the playbar to show this division into sections, the creator of the video must enter time stamps in the description of its contents. From there, the viewer only has to click on each segment of the bar to play a particular part and the mobile application will return a slight vibration in response to the touch.

To enable the feature, creators must ensure that the first timestamp in their video’s description starts at 0:00 and that the video includes this timestamp, Google explains, at least three time stamps or chapters of 10 seconds or more. To disable it, simply set the first time stamp in the description to other than 0:00, i.e. changing it to 00:01 would be sufficient.

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