WebUser – 04 April 2018

ForceYouTube to always stream videos
at thehighest quality possible

YouTubeRed lets youdownload
videos to watchoffline on your phone

4K VideoDownloaderletsyou grab videos

at themaximum resolution

Avoid straining your eyesatnight by

turningonYouTube’s newdarktheme

Permanentlyturnoff theannoyingannotations that

interruptyourviewing

Beat streamingrestrictions

COVER

FEATUR

E

4-17April 2018 41

this year,sofingerscrossedthattheUK

will (finally)beoneofthem.

Inthemeantime,aswe’resureyou’re

aware,thereareplentyoffreetools that

letyoudownloadvideosfromYouTube,

althoughthis contravenesthesite’s

termsofservice,whichstate:“youagree

nottoaccesscontentthroughany

technologyormeansotherthanthe

videoplaybackpagesofthewebsite

itself”(bit.ly/youtubeterms4 46 ).

If you’rewillingtotaketheriskand

toonlykeepdownloadedvideosfor

personaluse,thebestoptionis4K

VideoDownloader(bit.ly/4kdownload

446 ), whichisavailableforWindows,

MacOSandLinux,andis packedwith

usefulfeatures,includingsupportfor

3Dand 360 -degreevideos, aswell as

playlistsandchannels.Unlikesimilar

tools, it letsyoudownloadvideosat

thehighestqualitypossible–upto8K

BEAT YOUTUBERESTRICTIONS

whereavailable–anduseitsSmart

Modefeaturetodownloadmultiple

videosatyourpreferredsettingsinone

click.Tousetheprogram,justcopyand

pasteaURL,chooseaqualityand

format,andclickDownload.

Unlock YouTube’snewdark mode

Whenyou’rewatchingYouTubeatnight,

theglareofitswhitebackgroundcan

takeatollonyoureyesanddistractyou

fromthevideoyou’reviewing.Tomake

thingseasieronyourpeepersandcreate

amorecinema-likeexperience,youcan

transformall thatwhiteglareintoblack

byapplyingYouTube’snewdarktheme.

Onthewebsite,clickyourprofileimage

inthetop-rightcorner,select‘Dark

theme’andsetthesliderto‘on’.The

changewill takeeffectimmediately.

Googlehasalsoaddedthedarktheme

toitsiOSapp–justtapyourprofile

photoandselectit fromthemenu.

It’s comingtoAndroidverysoon.

Always streamvideos at HD
quality
YouTubeadjuststhestreamingquality
ofvideosfromstandarddefinition(such
as 24 0por 360 p)tohighdefinition
(720por1080p),basedonthespeedof
yourinternetconnection.Althoughyou
canchangethismanuallybyclickingthe
cogiconbelowavideoandselectingan
optionfromtheQualitymenu,youmay
prefertoal waysstreamatthehighest
quality.Therearelotsofbrowser
extensionsthatletyouoverride
YouTube’ssettingstostreaminHD,
4Koreven8K(whereavailable), of
whichourfavouritesareHDforYouTube
forChrome(bit.ly/hdyoutube 446 )and
YouTubeHighDefinitionforFirefox(bit
.ly/youtubehigh4 46 ). Justchooseyour
preferredqualityintheadd-on’s options
andit will automaticallyplayvideosat
thatresolution.TheFirefoxtoolalso
increasesthesizeofthevideoplayer
forabetterHDexperience.

Downloadvideos at maximum
resolution
YouTubedoesn’t officiallyallowviewers
todownloadvideostotheir computers,
althoughthefeatureis availableon
smartphonesinmanycountries,either
viaaYouTubeRedsubscription(www
.youtube.com/red)orthroughthe
YouTubeapp.Googlerecently
announcedplanstolaunchYouTube
Redin“ahundred”morecountrieslater

Turn offvideoannotationsandnotifications

ManyYouTubevideosareblightedbyirritatingannotationsthatpromotethe

creator’swebsiteorchannel, orbombardyouwithuselesstitbitsofinformationin

theformofspeechbubblesandpop-ups. Thankfully, YouTubescrapped

annotationslastyear,becausetheydidn’t workonmobiledevices,encouraging

creatorstouseinterstitial‘Cards’ and‘EndScreens’ instead,buttherearestill

millionsofvideosthatfeaturethis annoyance.Todisableannotations

permanently,clickyourprofilepictureandgotoSettings,Playback.Untickthe

option‘Showannotationsand

in-videonotifications’ and

clickSave.Youcanalsoturn

offcaptionsonthispage.

Sadly, Cardnotifications

andEndScreenscanprove

equallyobstructive,and

there’snoofficialoptionto

turnthemoff. Themost

effectivefixis tocreateanew

filterinyouradblockerand

enteryoutube.com##.

ytp-ce-element,which

we’vefoundtoworklike

adream!