Video Speed: YouTube, RuTube, Dzen, VK

Watch lectures, tutorials and reviews in less time. This extension puts a row of speed buttons right under the player on YouTube, RuTube, Dzen and VK Video: one click and a slow talk moves at twice the pace, one more click brings it back to normal.

What it does

• Speed buttons under the video. Out of the box they run from 1x to 3.25x on YouTube and to 3x on the other sites. Which buttons you see is up to you — pick them in the settings from a range that goes from 0.5x to 4x.
• A slider for anything in between, with the exact rate shown above the handle as you drag. It stops at your fastest button by default; raise its ceiling to 10x in the settings if you want more.
• One click sets the speed for the video you are watching. A double click makes it the speed every new video starts at — the saved button is marked with a dot in the corner.
• Keyboard shortcuts, several combinations per action if you like, so a remote and a keyboard can both do the job. Rebind them and set the step in the settings.
• A gear menu inside the player: where the slider sits, interface language, which speed buttons to show, how the panel behaves. There is also a feedback form that reaches the developer directly, and a report you can copy in one click if a site update ever knocks the panel out.
• The toolbar icon opens the same menu without opening a video first.
• Dzen and VK Video are opt-in. Nothing is requested when you install: open a video there, click the icon and allow it once. On VK the extension only ever runs in the video section.
• On RuTube you can also hide the title that sits on top of the player and the Premium banners.
• In fullscreen the panel keeps out of the picture, while the speed you chose is confirmed by a large label. The shortcuts keep working.

Video sites redesign without warning, and a panel pinned to one spot disappears the moment they do. This one looks for the player five different ways in turn and re-attaches itself wherever it turns up. The check runs continuously, so there is nothing for you to fix by hand.

Privacy

Your settings stay in your own browser. The extension collects no statistics, tracks nothing you watch and sends nothing anywhere. The source code is open, so any of this can be checked.

Languages

English and Russian. The interface follows your browser on first run and can be switched from the menu at any time.

Right after you install

A short guide opens in a new tab: what each control does, how to set your shortcuts, how to pin the icon to the toolbar. A minute to read, then close it and get on with it.