It can be easy to take the YouTube app for granted. It’s been there for years, opening videos when you click on a link, and receding into the background when you’re done. However, the YouTube app can do more than serve video links, and you’re probably not coming anywhere close to taking full advantage of the app’s capabilities. Let’s see what we can do about that.

Double-tap to skip ahead

It can be difficult to get to just the right spot in a video with the inherent inaccuracy of a touchscreen, but YouTube has a little-known feature that can help you get there. All you have to do is double-tap on the video to automatically skip forward 10 seconds. If you find that’s not working well for you, head to the settings and change the skip time.

Ryan Whitwam / IDG

Stop overshooting the mark with a double-tap.

You’ll find this option in the General YouTube settings near the top. The options for Double-tap to seek range from five to 60 seconds, so you should be able to find something that works for you.

Background play

Sometimes you don’t need to see the video part of a YouTube video because the audio is actually what’s of interest.

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