YouTube lets people watch videos at four times speed along with other new attention span-focused features

YouTube will now let people watch videos at four times speed – as part of a range of experimental new features.

Already, YouTube lets people watch at twice the normal speed. That allows users to skip through slower videos more quickly, though has also led to questions about whether it is an inferior way of watching videos and what it might do to viewers’ attention spans.

Now some users will be able to watch at twice that speed – a total of four times. They will be able to fine tune within that, allowing people to watch at 3.15 times the speed, for instance.

Other new features include the option to skip through videos more easily. A new tool called “Jump Ahead” allows people to press a button to go through videos more quickly.

Those tools are part of a range of “experimental new features” that are being offered to premium subscribers for a limited time. It also includes better quality audio and new features for YouTube Short, such as picture-in-picture and the option to download videos.

They are intended to allow people to use new features and give their feedback before they are integrated into the main app.

Many video platforms offer ways for users to skip through videos and watch them more quickly. That even includes film and TV streaming services such as Netflix – which lets people watch shows at double speed, for instance.