YouTube may be developing a sleep timer feature for its Android app — a feature that already exists in the YouTube Music app, according to a report. The feature was reportedly found during an APK teardown of the beta version of the YouTube app for Android. This development comes just days after the video-streaming platform announced that it will soon allow users to add notes below videos, providing easy-to-understand context.
Sleep timer on YouTube
In a report, Android Authority, in collaboration with tipster AssembleDebug, shared details about the sleep timer feature. As the name suggests, it would reportedly allow users to set a sleep timer, allowing them to set the duration of video playback before it automatically stops. The sleep timer feature was reportedly discovered during the removal of YouTube app APK for Android version 19.25.33.
According to the leaked feature references, users would be able to specify hours and minutes until the video stops playing. It can also appear as a notification. One of the possible dialog options reportedly reads “You can reset the timer or click Done to continue watching.”
While YouTube is speculated to get a sleep timer feature with a future update, YouTube Music – the platform’s music streaming app – already has it. However, it’s unclear if YouTube’s sleep timer will work the same way. It appears in Now he’s playing menu at the bottom. After switching on, the playback stops automatically after a certain time.
Disrupting ad blockers
According to the report, the video-streaming platform is testing a new method to circumvent ad blockers – server-side ad injection. Currently, ads are overlayed on top of video players at certain timestamps, which ad blockers take advantage of. However, with this change, it is speculated that YouTube will merge the ads, making the video a continuous stream instead of two separate elements.
