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I use a Samsung Galaxy S5. I'd like to play YouTube videos (or videos anywhere else) at 2x speed, but I can't find any options for that.

Is it possible to find a way to do this on Android?

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5 Answers 5

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Update 2017: It is now also possible to change the speed in the YouTube app, by clicking the three dot menu when playing a video, and then selecting Playback Speed

Other ways:

Sharing the video to an external app

  • Download an external player that lets you control the speed, like BSplayer.

  • Then in the youtube app when you get to the video you want to watch click the Share button and then select the player you want to use. The external player will open and it will play the video you want, and you can control the speed in it.

Tip: you can also use this method to skip ads. If you share the video to a different player you can watch it right away without having to wait if there's an ad.

Edit: I mentioned VLC and Dice Player as other options to control video speed, but looks like I can't share a video from the youtube app to play with them, at least on my phone

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Using YouTube in a browser app (like Chrome) and running JavaScript

This works for watching videos on m.youtube.com on the Mobile Chrome browser (probably other browsers as well)

When a video is playing, enter this into the URL bar

javascript: document.querySelector('video').playbackRate = 2

Note: you have to type out the "javascript:" keyword, because the browser might remove it if you paste it

You can use any number for the playback rate, including decimals

Tip: Speeding up videos this way could get laggy if you use a slower phone, and the max speed you are able to watch it smoothly might depend on your device capabilities. For this, you can also select a lower resolution for the video, or in the phone browser select Desktop Mode and then select a lower resolution video.

Saving the code as a Bookmarklet

You can save JavaScript code in a bookmark (called a bookmarklet) so you don't have to enter it in the url bar

Create a bookmarklet, name it something like 'ySpeed', and paste this code into it, I added a prompt so it asks to "Enter the Rate" each time it is run:

javascript: document.querySelector('video').playbackRate = parseFloat(prompt("Enter Rate"));

then on your phone when you're watching a video on m.youtube.com, type 'ySpeed' into the URL bar, don't press enter, you should see your bookmarklet pop up as an option. When you tap it the code will run and you will see a popup to enter your speed (.5, 2.5, 3, etc)

Instructions for Creating a Bookmarklet:

You can create it from your desktop browser or from your phone browser

On Desktop

  • Right-click the bookmarks bar
  • Click Add Page
  • Edit the name, and type the javascript code (including "javascript:") into the URL field
  • Select your Mobile Bookmarks folder (optional) and then click save

On Mobile Chrome

  • On any page (that you haven't bookmarked already) click the three-dot menu button next to the address bar
  • Tap the star
  • Tap Edit on the popup that shows up on the bottom of the screen. If you missed it then tap on the star again and it will take you to the Edit menu.
  • Enter the name, select your Mobile Bookmarks folder, and replace the content of the URL field with the javascript code (including "javascript:")

Some more info on bookmarklets: http://www.labnol.org/software/google-chrome-bookmarklets/27894/

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  • The external app is a great suggestion because I can playback with double speed without ads. Also good controls.
    – Gaurav Jain
    Commented Jun 25, 2016 at 22:28
  • Alternative way does not work, the video stops playing.
    – Alex78191
    Commented Jul 11, 2017 at 23:50
  • "use this code" in this answer means: 1. Click 3 dots on top left 2. More Tools -> Developer Tools 3. Paste the above line of code in the "console" tab and press enter. Works for me.
    – ritratt
    Commented Nov 12, 2020 at 0:06
  • VLC works for me, although I wonder if I can get a better speech speedup quality with some other app.
    – lukstafi
    Commented Apr 18, 2022 at 10:01
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    @ritratt not sure what your comment is referring to, because Chrome for Android doesn't have Dev Tools, unless you're referring to other browsers.
    – Andrew T. ♦
    Commented Apr 18, 2022 at 10:35
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As of 2014, the YouTube app does not have that feature.

However, it's available if you use a browser in desktop mode. Here's what it looks like on Chrome (on desktop mode):

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  • How do you prevent browser from going into m.youtube.com?
    – InquilineKea
    Commented Oct 9, 2014 at 17:59
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    @InquilineKea You either type "youtube.com" manually into the address bar. OR, request for desktop mode. In Chrome, left-soft-key, then Request desktop site.
    – geffchang
    Commented Oct 9, 2014 at 18:12
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    doesn't work on android 4.4: note 2 and note 10.1 2014 .I haven't seen this working on any Android.
    – Waldemar Wosiński
    Commented Jun 18, 2015 at 11:22
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    Unfortunately web player consumes much more cpu. On non top /older smartphones it is laggish.
    – Waldemar Wosiński
    Commented Jun 18, 2015 at 11:31
  • Didn't work for me, I just don't see that speed option in Chrome for Nexus 7 Android 6.
    – Bogdan Verbenets
    Commented Nov 30, 2015 at 23:57
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You can download movies and play them with an external player, for example, Dice Player (which has a speed control).

But downloading from YouTube is illegal. Can be done with TubeMate.

Be aware, TubeMate is censored and no Google tool will help you to find the right version.

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  • This is against Google's TOS. I don't think this should be a recommended solution.
    – Huey
    Commented Jun 28, 2015 at 2:02
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    I would gladly use any legal youtube client with preloading (with was cut out from android client) and higher playback speed (never worked yet). Without it, most of youtube videos are not essential and available enough to be watched by me.
    – Waldemar Wosiński
    Commented Jun 29, 2015 at 9:13
  • The USE of the tool is against Google's terms but not the actual discussion of the tool itself. Educational purposes, right?
    – Felipe Alvarez
    Commented Apr 17, 2017 at 12:10
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Just in case anyone still has this question, I should probably mention that at least since September 2017, it is now possible to control playback speed in the official YouTube app. Just tap the menu button in the top-right corner of the video and the setting will show up:

Screenshot of YouTube app. Playback Speed: Normal

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For playing YouTube videos on 2x speed, I use the BS Player (available on the Play Store). I open the video on the YouTube app and then I share it to the BS Player, which has speed control. With a good internet connection it should run very smoothly. (I also tried playing it with Chrome on desktop mode, but it has an awful delay for me.)

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  • How to choose quality?
    – Alex78191
    Commented Jul 12, 2017 at 0:30

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