YouTube Tests New Video Player for Desktop

YouTube tests a new HTML5 video player with a transparent control bar that hides when you're not using it, just like mobile video players.

After a few seconds, controls disappear.

This screenshot shows both the experimental player (at the top) and the regular player (at the bottom). As you can see, the "watch later" button is not available in the new player. Another change is that the seek bar is thinner and it's enlarged when you mouse over the bar.

The experimental player has bigger and bolder icons. Toggles for autoplay and annotations look better, while dropdowns for speed and quality are replaced by mobile-inspired menus.

If you want to enable the experimental player, you need to change the cookie value for VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE to Q06SngRDTGA. If you use Chrome, install EditThisCookie, open youtube.com, click the extension's button and change the value for VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE. Make sure that you're using the English (US) interface.

{ Thanks, Angelo Giuffrida and Sterling Alvarez. }