Streaming giant YouTube started testing an AI-powered tool last year — one that made it easy for viewers to immediately hop into the best parts of a video. Now officially known as Jump Ahead, the feature is a staple in every YouTube enthusiast’s arsenal, allowing them to completely skip sponsored or fluff sections and get straight into the content they care about most.
Up until now, Jump Ahead has been exclusive to YouTube’s web and mobile platforms. That’s perplexing, especially since TVs are the primary YouTube viewing source in the US (by watch time). According to a statistic put out by the streaming giant earlier this year, users watch over 1 billion hours of YouTube content on their TVs daily. That watch time statistic, however, is now set to trend lower, as users on TVs are beginning to report the arrival of Jump Ahead functionality.
First pointed out by credible Android analyst Mishaal Rahman in a report for Android Authority, the feature works a little differently from its implementation on mobile and the web. On the latter two platforms, the media player highlights a prominent “Jump Ahead” chip when you attempt to skip ahead of a ‘commonly-skipped’ section. You then decide if you want to actually jump ahead by tapping the chip or not.
On TVs, you’ll notice a small dot on the media player’s progress bar indicating the end of a commonly skipped section and the beginning of the most engaging part of the video (according to the viewing data YouTube gathers). Tapping your remote’s right arrow key to skip ahead highlights said dot, while tapping it again automatically jumps you to that point.
Not widely available just yet
The feature doesn’t seem to have rolled out widely just yet. I don’t have it on my Hisense TV with built-in Google TV. Android Police News Editor Dallas Thomas, however, does have it on his Google TV Streamer. Similarly, Rahman said that the feature was live on his NVIDIA Shield TV, suggesting that the feature is rolling out gradually.
For what it’s worth, Google’s support page for YouTube Premium benefits now lists “Living Room” devices, AKA TVs, as Jump Ahead compatible. However, a quick trip down archive lane suggests that the feature didn’t support TVs as of June 29th, which means that the feature’s official TV rollout is a very recent development.
Are you seeing the Jump Ahead option on your TV? Let us know in the comments below!
