YouTube Timestamps

If you are frequently watching interesting or controversial videos on YouTube, then chances are that you may wonder what others think about the ideas presented. Sure, you can go through the comments, but sometimes this task is titanic, especially on viral clips.

YouTube Timestamps is an extension for Chrome that aims to incorporate community-contributed timestamps directly into the video timeline.

The idea behind the extension is to enhance the viewing experience by extracting and displaying timestamps that other users have left in the comments section of a video. Unfortunately, it’s not very intuitive and hence, you need to hover over the timeline of the video to fish for the comments.

When you hover over one of these timestamps on the timeline, the extension shows a preview of the comment associated with that timestamp. This allows you to quickly see what other viewers found interesting or relevant at specific moments in the video.

It works in various viewing modes on YouTube, including Fullscreen and Theater modes. The extension also supports a Dark Theme for users who prefer a darker interface.

The add-ons functionality can go beyond the native YouTube platform, when watching embedded YouTube videos on external websites. Simply remember to change that in the Settings.

It is worth mentioning that there is a well-known limitation for the add-on, namely that you can solely preview the first 100 comments. Since the first comments are sometime rash reactions and without knowing all the facts, they may not reflect the true thoughts of the commenters.

YouTube Timestamps is a tool for YouTube viewers who want to benefit from the collective insights of other users by easily navigating to specific moments in a video that are highlighted by timestamps in the comments. It adds an extra layer of interactivity and context to the viewing experience.