The Best Browser Extensions to Get More Out of YouTube

提升 YouTube 体验的最佳浏览器扩展程序

From wedding speeches to music videos, from DIY tutorials to movie clips, from celebrity interviews to remote wilderness adventures, it’s all on YouTube. Per YouTube’s official figures, more than 20 million videos are uploaded every day to the platform. 从婚礼致辞到音乐视频，从 DIY 教程到电影片段，从名人访谈到荒野探险，YouTube 上应有尽有。根据 YouTube 的官方数据，该平台每天上传的视频超过 2000 万个。

Over the years, YouTube has added a bunch of extra features to improve the viewing experience for its users, but you can enhance it even further with some well-chosen browser extensions. No matter how you use YouTube, there should be something that you can benefit from here. 多年来，YouTube 增加了一系列额外功能来改善用户的观看体验，但通过一些精心挑选的浏览器扩展程序，你可以进一步提升这一体验。无论你如何使用 YouTube，这里总有一些东西能让你受益。

We’ve focused on extensions for Google Chrome here, which should also work on Microsoft Edge and any other browser based on Chromium (including Opera and Vivaldi). We’re also going to steer clear of extensions based primarily around blocking ads, in the spirit of supporting content creators on YouTube. 我们在此重点介绍适用于 Google Chrome 的扩展程序，它们同样适用于 Microsoft Edge 以及任何基于 Chromium 的浏览器（包括 Opera 和 Vivaldi）。出于支持 YouTube 内容创作者的精神，我们将避开那些主要用于屏蔽广告的扩展程序。

Improve YouTube

Improve YouTube delivers a host of features. Courtesy of David Nield Improve YouTube 提供了丰富的功能。（图片来源：David Nield）

Improve YouTube is one of the most comprehensive and longest-running YouTube extensions, and it brings with it a host of features. For a start, you can use it to change the look of the YouTube site in a variety of ways: Hide the sidebar or video thumbnails for a cleaner look, for example, or change the color of the progress bar and other elements. Improve YouTube 是最全面且运行时间最长的 YouTube 扩展程序之一，它带来了大量功能。首先，你可以用它以多种方式改变 YouTube 网站的外观：例如，隐藏侧边栏或视频缩略图以获得更简洁的视觉效果，或者更改进度条及其他元素的颜色。

Other tweaks you can apply include new tabs for search results (so you can find new videos without losing your place in the current one), the option to hide YouTube Shorts, and a reverse option for your playlists. You can also have videos pause when you switch tabs, and use the extension to set up custom keyboard shortcuts. There’s a lot here. 你可以进行的其它调整包括：为搜索结果开启新标签页（这样你可以在不中断当前视频的情况下查找新视频）、隐藏 YouTube Shorts 的选项，以及播放列表的倒序播放选项。你还可以设置在切换标签页时自动暂停视频，并使用该扩展程序设置自定义键盘快捷键。这里的功能非常丰富。

Enhancer for YouTube

Enhancer for YouTube includes a variety of playback modes. Courtesy of David Nield Enhancer for YouTube 包含多种播放模式。（图片来源：David Nield）

This is another extension with a lot of strings to its bow. Enhancer for YouTube gives you quick and easy access to playback speed, quality, and volume, and more granular control over videos than the built-in YouTube options. The extension can also transform the look of YouTube with custom themes, like a bespoke dark mode look that offers dozens of variations. 这是另一个功能强大的扩展程序。Enhancer for YouTube 让你可以快速轻松地调整播放速度、画质和音量，并提供比 YouTube 内置选项更精细的视频控制。该扩展程序还可以通过自定义主题改变 YouTube 的外观，例如提供数十种变体的定制深色模式。

You’re able to show and hide all kinds of on-screen furniture, and there are pop-up and mini players that you can customize. You can even also set up your own keyboard shortcuts for easier YouTube control. Everything is managed through a busy console of controls that includes space to load in your own custom code if you want to take the tinkering further. 你可以显示或隐藏各种屏幕界面元素，并自定义弹出式播放器和迷你播放器。你甚至可以设置自己的键盘快捷键，以便更轻松地控制 YouTube。所有功能都通过一个功能丰富的控制台进行管理，如果你想进一步折腾，它还提供了加载自定义代码的空间。

PocketTube

PocketTube gives you better options for organizing your videos. Courtesy of David Nield PocketTube 为你提供了更好的视频整理选项。（图片来源：David Nield）

PocketTube is all about your YouTube subscriptions. By default, the way that YouTube handles the channels you’re subscribed to is a little rudimentary. But PocketTube lets you create groups and subgroups for your subscriptions, and even give them custom icons. You’ve also got auto-generated playlists to handle all the videos in each group. PocketTube 的核心在于管理你的 YouTube 订阅。默认情况下，YouTube 处理订阅频道的方式比较基础。但 PocketTube 允许你为订阅创建组和子组，甚至可以为它们设置自定义图标。你还可以利用自动生成的播放列表来管理每个组中的所有视频。

PocketTube is not only very useful, but also neatly designed, too, fitting into the YouTube experience seamlessly—if you didn’t know otherwise, you wouldn’t think there was an extension involved. There’s lots more to explore, including a Deck mode that arranges YouTube in columns and extra filtering and sorting options for your video lists. PocketTube 不仅非常实用，而且设计精美，能无缝融入 YouTube 的使用体验——如果你不知道的话，甚至不会察觉到安装了扩展程序。它还有更多功能值得探索，包括将 YouTube 布局为多列的“Deck 模式”，以及为视频列表提供的额外筛选和排序选项。

Turn Off the Lights

Dim the area surrounding your video. Courtesy of David Nield 调暗视频周围的区域。（图片来源：David Nield）

Turn Off the Lights gives you a way of transforming the YouTube viewing experience in your browser. It dims the area around the video that’s currently playing, so you’re not distracted by comments, recommended videos, or anything else on screen. You really need to give the extension a try to understand how much of a difference it can make. Turn Off the Lights 为你提供了一种改变浏览器中 YouTube 观看体验的方法。它会调暗当前播放视频周围的区域，这样你就不会被评论、推荐视频或屏幕上的其他内容所干扰。你真的需要亲自试用一下这个扩展程序，才能体会到它能带来多大的改变。

There are more customization options than you might expect, too, because you’re able to change the opacity of the dimming and the color of the darker layer, and add soft glowing effects around the video you’re watching. There are some useful extras, such as video filters and an option to change the audio volume with the mouse scroll wheel. 它的自定义选项比你预想的要多，因为你可以更改调暗效果的透明度和深色层的颜色，并为你正在观看的视频添加柔和的发光效果。此外还有一些实用的附加功能，例如视频滤镜以及通过鼠标滚轮调节音量的选项。

DeArrow

DeArrow relies on user-submitted titles and thumbnails. Courtesy of David Nield DeArrow 依赖于用户提交的标题和缩略图。（图片来源：David Nield）

YouTube extensions don’t have to pack in lots and lots of features to be worthwhile: DeArrow simply concentrates on improving the titles and the thumbnails of the videos you see on the platform. These two key elements of videos, so often manipulated to be sensational or baiting, are instead crowdsourced by DeArrow users to be more informative. YouTube 扩展程序不一定要包含海量功能才值得使用：DeArrow 专注于改善你在平台上看到的视频标题和缩略图。这两个视频的关键要素经常被操纵以制造噱头或诱导点击，而 DeArrow 则通过用户众包的方式，让它们变得更具信息量。

It’s an interesting experiment and highlights just how much titles and thumbnails are tweaked to game the YouTube algorithm. If there are no crowdsourced suggestions for the videos you’re watching, you can default to random thumbnails and titles with emoji removed. You can also contribute title and thumbnail suggestions of your own. 这是一个有趣的实验，它凸显了标题和缩略图为了迎合 YouTube 算法而被修改的程度。如果你正在观看的视频没有众包建议，你可以默认使用随机缩略图，并去除标题中的表情符号。你也可以贡献自己建议的标题和缩略图。