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YouTube for web testing new ‘miniplayer-bar’ that keeps videos in view as you scroll

After debuting a lot of new features in its apps last year, it seems that YouTube is working on the next round. Just last week we discovered a new picture-in-picture mode coming to the platform, and now it seems YouTube is also working on a new “miniplayer.”

Not to be confused with picture-in-picture, this feature doesn’t just minimize the video to one side of the screen. First spotted by Engadget, this “miniplayer-bar” keeps videos on screen as you scroll down the page. Once you’ve scrolled past the part of the page that the video usually inhabits, the miniplayer shows up in a bar at the top of the screen as you can see in the GIF below.

When the video is in this mode, it still plays as usual, with options such as the like and dislike buttons, view count, and subscribe options all still in view. For those who like to check out the comments of related videos while still watching, this looks like a great way to keep an eye on the video at the same time.

It’s unclear when or if this functionality will roll out publicly, or if it will be a counterpart of the picture-in-picture mode. Either way, it’s great to see YouTube testing out these new user-friendly features. Hopefully, public releases aren’t too far off…


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