BetterTube 1.00× Get it
BetterTube for Brave & Chrome

Put the watch page back.
Then speed it up.

Classic layout on YouTube, a fast and precise speed controller on every video and audio player on the web, and honest stats about your watching. All private.

Download for Brave / Chrome Try the speed keys

v0.4.0 · 65 KB Manifest V3 ● data stays in your browser

Drag across it. The speed on the classic player is live: press D or S.

Why it works

Not hidden. Switched off.

Other fixes paint over the new layout with CSS and break when it changes. BetterTube turns off the experiment flags behind it, so the site itself draws the classic page.

A fallback corrects a late switch in the first seconds of each video, and your own theater toggle, T, F and full screen are always respected.

  • disable_theater_mode videos stop opening wide
  • web_side_rail_default_dismissed_panels the description comes back
  • web_watch_split_scroll one page, one scroll
  • web_side_rail_dismissible_panels up-next is one 402 px column
Speed controller

Every player. Your speed.

A small overlay on every video and audio player on the web: 0.07× to 16×, your own keys, and a different speed per site. Try it: the keys work on this page.

1.00
0:00 / 20:00
1.00×
Gradual speed-up A +0.01× every 3 s here (30 s in the extension), up to 3× · off
0:00 of your time saved on this “video” so far
  • <video> and <audio> on any site
  • new Audio() sound played off the page
  • Web components media inside shadow roots
  • Cross-origin iframes embedded players, keys handed across
  • Netflix jumps go through its own player
  • Per-site memory 3× here, 1.5× for podcasts
1.00this page, now

1.00× → 2.50× in about 1 h 15 min of watching

Gradual speed-up

Too small to notice. It adds up.

The speed creeps up while you watch, measured in real playback time so pauses and ads don't count, and the next video carries on where the last one got to.

  • Quiet zone: no climbing between two speeds you choose, say 1–2× for music.
  • Stop or pause on demand: Q stops it for this video; W pauses it everywhere for a while.
  • Keys know: R pauses the climb; D and the presets resume it.
274 hours back every year, about 11.4 days. That's 45 min a day, 5 h 15 min a week.
Watch stats

Where your time actually goes.

Videos and watch time in the site's top bar, and a dashboard with time saved by speed, habits, top channels and playback health. Stored only in your browser.

Your viewing9 Oct – 15 Oct · demo data
Today7 days30 daysAll
Watch time4h 27m38m a day on average
Videos watched3232 opened
Saved by speed5h 23m9h 51m of video in 4h 27m · avg 2.21×
Finished31%10 of 32 to the end
Streak14 daysin a row with 1m+ watched
Watch time per day
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
When you watch
00
06
12
18
Top channels
  • Data Talks 1h 09m
  • Design Notes 58m
  • Systems Explained 55m
  • Lo-fi Focus 30m
  • Rust in Practice 28m
Declutter

Less on the page. More to watch.

Lighter playback

Blocks AV1 on Macs that can't decode it in hardware (M1/M2, Intel), and steps quality down when a video keeps buffering.

Install

One minute, from a release.

BetterTube is a browser extension for computers. Open this page in Brave or Chrome on your computer to install it.

BetterTube v0.4.0

bettertube-v0.4.0.zip · 65 KB · Brave or Chrome · 1 downloads

Download
  1. 01

    Unzip it

    Download the release zip and unzip it anywhere you'll keep it.

  2. 02

    Developer mode

    Open brave://extensions or chrome://extensions and turn on Developer mode (top right).

    chrome://extensions
  3. 03

    Load unpacked

    Click Load unpacked and choose the unzipped folder.

  4. 04

    Pin and reload

    Pin BetterTube from the puzzle menu and reload any open video tabs.

Coming from Video Speed Controller? Same default keys; BetterTube steps aside while VSC is on.

Questions

Good to know.

How is this different from CSS-based fixes?

Hiding things with CSS leaves the new layout underneath, so it breaks every time the site changes. BetterTube switches off the experiment flags behind the new layout, so the site itself draws the classic page; a measuring fixer catches anything the flags miss.

Why isn't it on the Chrome Web Store?

Not yet. Until then it installs in a minute from a GitHub release with Load unpacked. It's open source, so you can read every line first.

I use Video Speed Controller. Will they fight?

No. BetterTube's controller uses the same default keys and steps aside while VSC is running. Turn VSC off in the extensions page when you're ready to switch.

Does it send my watch history anywhere?

No. There are no accounts, servers or analytics. Stats are stored in your browser and never leave it.

Which browsers?

Brave and Chrome (Manifest V3); other Chromium browsers that allow unpacked extensions work too. Not Safari or Firefox yet.

What's the AV1 thing?

Macs without AV1 hardware decoding (M1/M2 and Intel) decode it in software, which is hot and hungry. BetterTube asks for a codec your Mac decodes in hardware instead, and steps quality down when a video keeps buffering.

Changelog
v0.4.0 · 14 Oct 2026

BetterTube v0.4.0

  • Gradual speed-up. Speed rises by a small step while a video actually plays, up to a max you set. Step, interval (s / min / h) and short-video cutoff accept any value.
  • Carry-over: the next video continues where the last one got to.
  • Rewinds: jumping back eases the speed down and pauses the climb for a minute.
  • Per-shortcut control: each shortcut can pause or resume the climb (R pauses; preferred speeds and D resume). A pause lasts across videos and tabs.
Release notes →
1.00×

Watch it your way.

Download for Brave / Chrome View source