Hadlee Simons / Android Authority
TL;DR
- YouTube’s ‘Jump Ahead’ feature, which lets Premium subscribers skip to the most interesting part of a video, is now rolling out to the YouTube app on TVs.
- The feature uses AI and viewing data to identify the segment of the video that most viewers typically skip ahead to.
- Unlike on mobile and web, the TV version lets users tap their remote’s fast-forward key to automatically skip to a designated point on the progress bar.
YouTube is finally bringing one of its best Premium perks to the big screen. The ‘Jump Ahead’ feature, which lets you skip to the most interesting part of a video, is now rolling out to YouTube’s TV app. First launched in May of last year for web and mobile, its absence on TVs was a notable omission, especially since nearly half of all YouTube users watch on their televisions.
I discovered the change on my NVIDIA Shield TV earlier today. When I pressed my remote’s fast-forward button during a certain part of a video, instead of skipping ahead 10 seconds as usual, the app automatically “jumped ahead.” A message appeared in the top-right corner, noting it was “jumping over a commonly skipped section,” automatically taking me to the most replayed part.
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
This is the same ‘Jump Ahead’ feature that YouTube rolled out on mobile and the web last year. The service uses AI and viewing data to identify the part of the video that most viewers skip ahead to, then presents Premium subscribers with a button to fast forward to that segment.
On TVs, the experience is slightly different. Instead of a dedicated button, a dot appears on the video’s progress bar to indicate the most common skip point. Tapping your remote’s fast-forward key again will automatically jump the video to that spot.
While a YouTube support page confirms the feature is now available on “Living Room” (AKA TV) devices, the scope of the rollout is unclear. I’ve only seen one other user report having it, so if you’ve spotted the ‘Jump Ahead’ feature on your TV’s YouTube app, let us know in the comments below!
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