Apple has changed the video player in iOS 16. What’s new and how to use it

video player in iOS 16, iOS 16 turned out to be quite controversial: despite the external changes, there is not much will to update. But there is a small reason for joy for those who love watching movies and TV shows – Apple finally heard the pleas of users and changed the look of the video player.

Honestly, I want to wait for the update just because of this innovation! The old interface, which appeared in iOS 7, was fed up with the order, and those who were satisfied with it were very few.

There are many changes: new buttons, control gestures and additional playback settings. Let’s see, how the video player has changed in iOS 16 and how to use it now.

Apple updated the player in iOS 16 and we didn’t notice it. Understand what’s new

Video Player in iOS 16: Standard Player on iPhone

The system drive on iPhone is used in many applications, including Safari. Changes are asking for a very long time because the same YouTube has long received convenient navigation and a bunch of gestures. Therefore, when you open a video in a browser, you always view it in the YouTube app.

it’s more convenient there. A new video player can be seen in iOS 16, which has just been released in public beta: you don’t have to install it – everything will appear after the update. You can install the beta now, but remember that it’s at your own risk.

The old video player is a real pain. I wonder if it was convenient for Apple employees to use it themselves.

The new video player now looks different and matches the spirit of iOS: the video title is now displayed directly on the screen from below and has a larger, well-readable font.

The navigation bars at the top and bottom are now missing: instead, the play/pause button has been placed in the center of the screen, in the same place

– rewinding the video 10 seconds back and forth in the form of white buttons. The blurry volume slider background has also been replaced with white buttons – it’s much simpler and clearer.

How to Watch Videos on iPhone?

Rewind and pause buttons have been removed from the annoying bottom panel and turned into gestures: you can now tap the center of the screen to pause the video or continue playing. No more clumsy attempts hoping to hit the little pause button at the bottom of the screen.

Additionally, Apple has made good use of the space by removing the video zoom button to fit the screen – instead, you can extend two fingers across the screen to fill the screen and pinch them together to that the video has borders. Gestures have been requested for a long time instead of the double tap that used to be.

Navigation and icons have changed – it’s much more convenient

Note that the Rewind slider was removed from player iOS 16 – yes, yes, the one that had to somehow “grab” when using the iPhone with one hand, and even in a horizontal position. Now the video can be rewound by swiping anywhere on the progress bar.

Also, all controls disappear once you start rewinding. By the way, now you can start it from anywhere on the screen: just swipe left or right and the video will start rewinding after your finger.

If you don’t take your finger off the screen, rewinding is slow and scanning (taking your finger off the screen) is fast. It works by the minute and does not stop immediately. Yes, yes, gestures long familiar to everyone from the VLC player, after which standard player in iOS seems old and limited.

iPhone Video Playback Speed

Another feature that has been prepared for iOS 16 users is video playback speed. The feature will be available not only in standard Apple apps but also in third-party apps. The following video playback speeds will be available:

Now the video can be viewed in accelerated mode

  • 0.5x;
  • 1.0x;
  • 1.25x;
  • 1.5x;
  • 2x.

By the way, developers will be able to add other speeds at their discretion, but the function of integrating a standard player into the application is not mandatory – do not be surprised if it does not exist.

To change the speed you will have to click on the icon with three dots in a circle and select the desired speed. Agree, it is very convenient to watch the same podcasts or training videos at 1.5x speed – the same YouTube has long offered such a feature, thanks to which you save a lot of time.

In general, updating the system player turned out to be very large-scale. To complete the picture, only image settings, and manual video quality settings are missing, so the video loads faster to save traffic or with weak internet. Also, you can set wallpaper from iOS 16 on an iPhone without installing the beta version – find out where to get them in our article.