YouTube is testing out a new feature that seeks to make lengthy videos easier to navigate.
While creators can already post timestamps in their video description boxes — and in the comments section — that automatically drive viewers to different moment in a video, YouTube is reportedly testing out on this concept called Chapters.
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The chapters are starting to show up for some viewers on some channels, and are generated based on creator-provided timestamps; if creators do not provide timestamps in their video description boxes, YouTube is unable to derive its own.
Chapters are slightly different than timestamps in that they result in different separations along the scrubbing timeline, and hovering over one on reveals the name of that Chapter, per Android Police. Again, Chapter names are taken from those provided by creators in their description boxes.
It is a user-friendly feature that creators can use to enhance the experience of their subscribers. While the feature is really useful while listening to songs, it would also work in favour of content creators who make compilation-type videos. It is suited for story-time, documentary-style or such long video formats that users might revisit so that they can listen to a particular part and can finally know what they couldn’t remember and go to sleep. Even YouTubers who make shorter videos can use make the timestamps available to mark important moments in the video or make videos more userfriendly.