YouTube is testing a new HTML5 Video Player

YouTube has begun testing a new HTML5 based video player on its website.

The new video player has a transparent control bar, which hides automatically when you aren’t using it.

It reappears as you hover the mouse cursor over the video. This behaviour is similar to the UI of mobile video players.

Here is what the current (read old) video player looks like:

And here is what the new video player looks like:

Observe the above images, and you will notice quite a few changes. For instance, the seek bar is thinner in the new player, than in the older one. The Seek button appears only when you hover the cursor over the seek bar. The icons in the new player are bigger and bolder.

And the watch later button (clock icon) is missing in the new video player. But it does work in full screen mode (available on the top right corner).

Another change in the UI, is the Autoplay toggle option. The basic on-off button has been replaced by a better looking menu item.

The new player isn’t available for all users, but has been enabled for a few lucky ones. If you don’t ant to wait for it to roll out, and really want to try it now, you can get it easily.

How to enable the new video player in YouTube?

Method 1 as suggested by Google System Blog:

1. Install the EditThisCookie extension in Google Chrome.

2. Go to YouTube.com or any video’s page at the website

3. Use the extension to change the cookie value for VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE to Q06SngRDTGA

4. Refresh the page, and you should see the new video player.

Its quite simpler than it sounds. But if you still don’t like that, try the following method suggested by Softpedia.

Method 2:

1. Open Google Chrome.

2. Visit YouTube.com

3. Hit F12 on your keyboard to bring up the developer console.

4. Click the >> button next to Elements, and select Console.

5. Copy and paste the following command into the console, and press enter.

document.cookie=”VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE=Q06SngRDTGA”