NAIROBI, Kenya- We’ve all been there—falling asleep to a YouTube video, only to wake up hours later to find ourselves deep in an unintended binge-watching session.
It’s like going to bed with one video and waking up with an entirely different playlist. Now, YouTube is testing a new feature designed to solve this exact problem: a sleep timer.
YouTube’s new sleep timer, currently available exclusively to Premium subscribers, lets you set a specific time for your videos to automatically pause.
Whether you want to drift off after 10 minutes or let the current video play out before shutting down, this feature offers flexibility.
The options range from 10 minutes to 60 minutes, or you can choose to stop at the end of the current video.
This feature is particularly handy if you enjoy watching YouTube videos as you wind down for the night.
No more waking up to random videos playing in the background. Once the timer hits your specified time limit, YouTube will automatically pause, ensuring your device (and your brain) gets some much-needed rest.
Accessing the sleep timer is a breeze—if you’re a YouTube Premium subscriber.
The feature is available on both the mobile app and desktop versions, though TV users will have to wait a little longer.
To try it out, head to your settings and select “Try experimental new features.” From there, you can activate the timer and customize it to your liking.
This experimental phase runs until September 2, according to an article on 9to5Google, so if you’re a Premium subscriber, now’s the time to test it out.
While there’s no guarantee it will roll out to all users, the feature’s potential appeal suggests it might become widely available in the future.
While the sleep timer is currently exclusive to Premium subscribers, there’s hope that it could eventually be available to all YouTube users, including those on the free tier.
Given how useful this feature could be for anyone who watches videos before bed, it wouldn’t be surprising to see YouTube expand its availability down the line.
For now, YouTube Premium users can enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing their late-night viewing sessions won’t turn into accidental marathons.
As for everyone else, it’s a waiting game to see if this feature will make its way into the standard YouTube experience.
