Sidebar for Youtube

If you are looking for a faster way of accessing YouTube content without opening a new tab, this add-on might get your interest. Sidebar for YouTube is a neat add-on that helps Opera users access YouTube content in a quick and simple way.

The interface pops up from the moment you click on the icon. By default, the add-on displays the YT layout in mobile view. Besides the usual details like the YouTube logo, search function and account manager, the add-on sports a small toolbar with five control buttons that enhances the navigation process.

The buttons mentioned above are useful for moving back from videos or going forward trough them, reaching the home page or opening the pages in their own tabs. These buttons have the same behavior as the browser ones, so getting used to them should come naturally.

Probably the biggest downside of this add-on is the impossibility to run videos in the background, or after the UI is hidden. For example, if you are watching something but click off the interface, the sidebar retracts and pauses the video.

However, this can also be seen as a positive feature for users who need a swift way of closing the tab and cutting the audio feed. The page is not changed after retraction, so when you expand it again you won’t be sent back to the home page.

Opening the settings wheel menu provides access to several more options. The first one block all adds within the sidebar, so if you are running YouTube from your browser, you’ll still get ads. The second one is supposed to change the mobile view to desktop view, but after changing that, no differences were spotted. As for the third, it's just a support page that holds information about the add-on.

The sidebar can be fixed to the browser’s interface. This can be achieved by clicking the pin icon from the upper-right corner. While pinning the sidebar, the browser will automatically change its shape for the sidebar inclusion.