Some people can hardly remember the time before YouTube. The video host was founded in 2005, and year after year the platform got bigger and bigger. As early as 2006, around 100 million clips were viewed there every day. By 2010, this figure had risen to more than two billion per day. Today, users upload around 500 hours of video material every minute. No wonder, really. The largely free service offers almost endless entertainment, how-to and tutorial videos, music, and much more. Of course, users also have the opportunity to upload videos themselves, collect followers, and earn money with them. However, even passionate users often don’t know all the tricks for an optimal streaming experience. You can find such tips in this article: How to use YouTube perfectly on your PC, smartphone, smart TV and co. Further reading: I block every ad on YouTube and I’m not ashamed to admit it General YouTube tips These settings and tricks promise a better YouTube experience across all devices. Create GIFs from YouTube videos You can create GIFs from YouTube videos free of charge – flexible settings included.Foundry Did you know that you can create a compact GIF from a YouTube video with just a few clicks or swipe gestures? It’s even free: Visit the GIF generator at makeagif.com and insert the YouTube link to the relevant video. You can then specify the desired output quality (maximum medium for free use), determine the GIF length, and adjust the playback speed. Note: Free users must tolerate watermarks and a lower resolution. Use dark mode A small setting with a big effect. Dark mode makes YouTube more enjoyable, and not just in the late evening hours. It is particularly pleasant and useful to switch to dark mode when using the app for long periods of time, as it reduces eye fatigue and saves battery power. On the PC, we simply click on our profile picture and then on “Display.” Here you can now select the dark design. Dark mode is also available in the official YouTube app (Settings->General->Display). Variable playback speed In the playback options (gear icon), you can gradually adjust the playback speed of YouTube videos. This allows clips to be played back at twice the speed or up to four times slower. This is super handy if a YouTuber doesn’t want to get to the point in their videos, or if you want to watch a step in a tutorial in detail. Show subtitles If you’ve ever watched a video from the American South or a Seitenbacher advert, you’ll know the problem. Sometimes you can’t understand a word. However, the solution to such language barriers is easy to find, you can simply activate subtitles in many YouTube videos. The button for this can be found directly next to the small cogwheel below the video when using the browser, for example. More fun with YouTube on your smartphone or tablet These tricks and tips make YouTube even more fun on mobile devices. Play YouTube videos in the background on your mobile device (with Android or iOS) You can also play videos in the background on your smartphone with Firefox if you install a free plug-in.Foundry There is one small restriction on YouTube that can be really annoying. If you watch videos on your smartphone where you are only interested in the audio track (such as music or radio plays), you always have to keep the display activated and play the video in the foreground. As soon as you switch to another tab or deactivate the display, the playback also stops–quite annoying. The workaround for Android: A free plug-in is available for the Firefox mobile browser (Android | iOS): “Video playback in the background.” You can find this in the browser menu (three dots) and then under “Extensions” (see image). It also works on iPhone: First, start the video in the browser and then switch to the desktop version of the website in the settings. (You can skip this step on the iPad). Now, leave the website using the iPhone’s home button and open the quick settings using the usual swipe gesture (top right corner). Here you can now simply restart the video with the play button, it will then play in the background and you can hear the sound normally, even if the display is off. Tips and tricks for better YouTube on your PC MP3 download, keyboard shortcuts, or editing playlists together. If you enjoy browsing YouTube on your PC, you should know these practical tricks: Download YouTube music and save it locally as an MP3 You can convert YouTube videos to audio files (MP3) in a flash.Foundry Even beyond YouTube Music, the classic video host has plenty of music to offer from all genres and pretty much every decade since the invention of the sound carrier. And although YouTube itself doesn’t like it that much, you can convert such tracks with various web services in no time at all and save them locally as MP3s. You can do this here, for example. Use keyboard shortcuts There are many practical keyboard shortcuts available for YouTube videos, which promise more convenient operation and can save a lot of time, especially for frequent viewers. Note: If the shortcuts do not work, click on the video once (this will bring the player back into focus). ShortcutsShortcut functionSpace barPlay / PausekPlay / PausemMute videoleft / right arrow keyfast forward or rewind 5 secondsUp / down arrow keyVolume up or down (5 % each)jrewind 10 secondslfast forward 10 seconds.With paused video to the next frame,To the previous frame when the video is pausedShift key .Accelerate playbackShift key (Shift) ,Slow down playbackNumbers 1 to 9Jump to 10 to 90 % of the videoNumber 0Jump to the beginningfFull screen modecSelect subtitles (if available)Shift key (Shift) nNext videoShift key pPrevious videoPOS1 keyJump to the beginning of the videoEND keySkip to the end of the video Link to the exact playback position of a video You can quickly create a link to any playback position.Foundry You want to show a friend a funny moment in a YouTube video, but the clip is 15 minutes long? No problem. You can easily create a link to the exact position of the current playback. To do this, simply rewind to the point you want to link to and right-click on the video. Then click on “Copy video URL at this point” in the small window. The link will then be copied to the clipboard and can be inserted at any time by right-clicking and pasting or by pressing CTRL V. Edit playlists together with friends You can invite friends to edit playlists together.Foundry If you would like to allow friends or acquaintances to collaborate on your YouTube playlists, this is not a problem. First, open the playlist that you would like to share for editing. Note: If the list is not yet public, you still need to select/set this. Now you can select the “Invite employees” function via the Share button and generate a link that you can then forward to contacts. Make sure that the “Edit together” and “Allow new collaborators” functions are activated in the window. Play adverts 16 times faster with Chrome or Edge Gone again: This Chrome extension allows you to play adverts 16 times faster.Foundry If you’re sometimes annoyed by adverts on YouTube, we can understand that: The provider regularly places intrusive adverts in front of us before a video and often in the middle of it. Added to this is YouTube’s increasingly rigid approach to ad blockers. The solution (at least for Chrome users) is called “Ad Speedup – Skip Video Ads 16X Faster” and is available as a free extension for Chrome and Edge. It automatically plays ad sequences at 16x speed and skips them in no time at all. Useful YouTube tips for your smart TV Naturally, YouTube really comes into its own on the TV. The large display offers space for all the details and you can sink into the couch and relax while watching. These tips will make the video service even more fun on your Smart TV. Show or hide subtitles If you don’t know how to show or hide subtitles for YouTube on your Smart TV, it can be quite annoying. Fortunately, the function is very easy to access: Firstly, we pause the video and press the up button on the TV remote control. Here we now select the settings (usually on the far right; cogwheel symbol). In the following window, we can now select subtitles if they are available. In case of playback problems: Use an Ethernet cable This is not just a tip for YouTube, but a useful solution to problems when streaming is jerky or clips are slow to load (and also helps with problems with Netflix and the like). If you connect your smart TV to the internet via Wi-Fi, you sometimes have to deal with connection problems or slow data transfer, depending on the distance to the router. The solution? Lay an Ethernet cable from the router to the Smart TV, then the full bandwidth and unclouded video enjoyment is available there. Avoid adverts with YouTube Premium Google doesn’t exactly make it easy for us to install ad blockers with the app for the Smart TV – after all, this contradicts the business model of the free service. The remedy is to switch to YouTube Premium. This currently costs $13.99 per month (for individuals), deactivates all adverts, and allows uncomplicated background playback and offline music. More options: Stream to the TV via smartphone instead of the YouTube app There are a few advantages to streaming YouTube to your TV using your smartphone. You can also display comments or post them yourself (writing only on your smartphone). You can read how to set up such a stream here. For families: Activate parental control To prevent children from watching inappropriate content on YouTube on the TV (of which there is plenty), you can filter such content directly in the app. To do this, first go to the app settings on the smart TV, search for the “Restricted mode” entry, and activate the function. 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I’ve been reviewing monitors for almost 20 years, so believe me when I say this: 2025 will be the best year to buy a new monitor, ever. Today’s most attractive and feature-rich monitors command high prices compared to what was typical a decade ago, which has moved some monitor shoppers up-market. In turn, this has given monitor makers an incentive to pursue new trends in panel technology, video inputs, and image processing, among other features. Also, the growing proliferation of OLED is a huge boon for monitors, and not just because OLED looks great and delivers smooth motion. While pricing on high-end, cutting-edge monitors is still up, pricing on monitors with OLED panels is edging towards a freefall. Here are the key trends you should be aware of as far as monitor tech is concerned as we head into 2025 and beyond. Related: The best monitors worth getting right now OLED monitors dip below $500 In the run up to the Black Friday sales period, we saw several 27-inch 1440p OLED monitors — like the MSI MAG 271QPX — dip a cent below $500. Innocn, a budget brand, had an even more outrageous deal: a 27-inch 1440p 240Hz OLED monitor for $429.99. These deals have expired by now, but they’re a strong signal of where OLED pricing is headed. Deep Black Friday discounts in 2024 prove that OLED monitors are now being produced in high enough volumes that monitor makers have excess stock to clear out, even if that means dropping prices to hundreds below MSRP. The Gigabyte MO34WQC (Amazon)Matthew Smith / Foundry For now, those prices are still sale prices. But unless we experience some kind of global supply shock (which, unfortunately, can happen), the volume of OLED panels is only going to increase from here — and higher volume means more supply and lower prices. This trend goes far beyond the computer monitor market. Display market analysts predict that we’re only at the start of OLED’s rise to mainstream dominance. OLED is already popular in premium consumer electronics but, if current trends continue, we’ll see it replace LCD in all but the least expensive budget displays. That’s not to say all OLED monitors will be cheap. On the contrary, I expect high-end pricing to surge just as “entry-level” OLEDs drop. While 27-inch 1440p and 32-inch 4K OLED monitors are common, many other display sizes, resolutions, and aspect ratios remain untapped. In 2025, expect monitor makers to cater to big spenders with new OLED options that push boundaries on resolution, sizing, and features. IPS Black goes mainstream LG introduced a new In-Plane Switching (IPS) panel technology called IPS Black in late 2021, then shipped the new tech in monitors starting in 2022. While it didn’t receive much public attention, it’s a big deal. IPS Black roughly doubles the contrast ratio of a typical IPS panel, from 1000:1 to 2000:1. Though that’s still way short of OLED, it’s a significant upgrade that helps IPS panels deliver deeper, more immersive images. It’s especially ideal for office and productivity monitors, which are a huge chunk of the monitor market (even if less glamorous). The Dell UltraSharp U3223QE (Amazon)Matt Smith / Foundry Despite that, IPS Black monitors have been hard to come by since LG was the only company producing this type of panel. But that’s changed now. BenQ’s RD320U, a truly excellent monitor for productivity and programming, has a 32-inch 4K IPS panel with a contrast ratio tested at nearly 1910:1 — but that one isn’t an LG IPS Black panel. It’s actually produced by another manufacturer. (BenQ wouldn’t say who.) That’s a positive signal for the future of IPS and I’ll be keeping an eye out for improved panels at CES 2025. I expect we’ll see more announced. Odd display sizes proliferate Back in 2022, LG made a weird monitor announcement at CES: the LG DualUp, a 28-inch monitor with a 16:18 aspect ratio. I worried it would be a gimmick, but my opinion changed when I reviewed it. As it turns out, the unique aspect ratio proved useful for many different needs. The same LG DualUp is still on the market today and its pricing has remained stable at its typical MSRP of $699.99 and sale price just south of $600. That’s a hint that this monitor is seeing good demand. The BenQ RD280U (Amazon)Matthew Smith / Foundry Other monitor makers seem to have noticed. In 2024, BenQ moved in with the SW242Q (an entry-level photography monitor with a 16:10 aspect ratio) and the RD280U (a programming monitor with a 3:2 aspect ratio). Dell and Asus also debuted 24-inchers with 16:10 aspect ratios. In part, panels with unusual aspect ratios are examples of display manufacturers “using the whole hog.” Often, display panels are produced in large sheets and then cut down to an appropriate size — so these panels with unusual aspect ratios may actually be byproducts of other, larger panels. It’s an interesting geometric puzzle for display manufacturers. Unusual aspect ratios offer more ways to solve this puzzle. And now that it’s clear people will buy monitors that aren’t 16:9 or ultrawide, I expect more manufacturers will market monitors with odd aspect ratios as productivity and content creation displays. New year, new ports Apple’s release of the new Mac Mini and MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt 5 makes it clear that this new connection standard is about to have its moment in the limelight. While PCs technically got to it first, early adopters have experienced issues. For most people, Apple’s inclusion of Thunderbolt 5 will be the first they’ve ever heard of it. To be sure, Thunderbolt 5 monitors won’t be flooding the market. Thunderbolt is already a niche connection for monitors. Still, Thunderbolt 5’s vastly increased bandwidth opens up options for better monitors with built-in hubs. These monitors will be able to support “daisy chain” connections to high-resolution monitors and/or handle multiple fast external drives. I think the PC market will see Thunderbolt 5 first on a new 5K or 6K display from Dell, LG, or BenQ. The Sony Inzone M10S (Amazon)Matthew Smith / Foundry In addition to Thunderbolt 5’s arrival, you can expect to see some new adoption of DisplayPort 2.1 (which first arrived in 2024’s Sony Inzone M10S. HDMI 2.1, meanwhile, will become more-or-less the default on all but the cheapest monitors. These standards promise better handling of high resolutions and refresh rates. It’s not all good, though. Thunderbolt 5, DisplayPort 2.1, and HDMI 2.1 all have complicated, tiered specifications. Cables that conform to these specifications offer varying data rates and feature support, so monitor shoppers will need to look closely at a monitor’s connection specifications before making a purchase. More AI (but maybe it will be useful?) The first so-called AI features, like Asus ROG AI Assistant and MSI Gaming Intelligence, appeared in 2024… but those features felt half-baked. As we head into 2025, AI will no doubt play a bigger role — and monitor makers will show off AI features that have had enough time in the oven. Skeptical? I don’t blame you. But AI could be useful in monitors. For example, televisions have used machine learning for years to upscale images and smooth out motion. Monitors haven’t offered the same tech for several reasons: the chips that make it possible were costly; the input latency was unacceptable; and the typical use case for a monitor wasn’t a great fit for what machine learning algorithms could accomplish thus far. But the monitor market of 2025 is a lot different than the one from 2015. Modern monitors are more expensive, and that means there’s room to roll out premium features — like AI image processing. The Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 (Amazon)Matthew Smith / Foundry In fact, this already happened in 2024, though in a limited way. The Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 line included an NQ8 AI Gen 3 processor that supports AI image upscaling. However, it only functions when viewing content through Samsung’s TizenOS, like Netflix or cloud gaming services. It doesn’t function with PCs or external consoles. That, I suspect, is going to change. Premium monitors are under a lot of pressure to justify their $1,000+ price tags, and AI image upscaling or motion clarity features seem like obvious selling points to put on a box. I expect this will be dicey territory because concerns like input lag won’t go away, but AI image processing could be a good fit for less input-sensitive games and streaming content. 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