Version [4.2.6] – [August 12th, 2025]

This update delivers major behind-the-scenes improvements to make the extension more stable, reliable, and ready for future YouTube changes.

Key Improvements

• Complete Backend Refactor:
  The entire codebase has been rewritten for greater stability, efficiency, and reliability. This new foundation makes the extension far less likely to break when YouTube updates its site.
• Smarter Error Handling:
  Enhanced error detection and recovery now allow the extension to handle unexpected issues more gracefully without crashing.

Bug Fixes

• Continuous Seek Fix:
  Resolved an issue where holding a hotkey and switching tabs could cause seeking to continue indefinitely.

Version [4.2.5] - [August 3rd, 2025]

• Readjusted the Action & Player Timing card for a more compact and clear layout.

Version [4.2.4] - [August 3rd, 2025]

Action & Player Timing Panel Updates

The "Action & Player Timing" panel has been updated with the following key features for a cleaner, more intuitive experience:

New Collapsible Panel

For a cleaner interface, advanced controls are now located in a "More settings" section. This includes:

• Action Delay: A small delay before seeking to prevent stuttering.
• Seek Throttle: Prevents spamming rapid skip commands.
• Seek Interval: Controls the speed of continuous seeking when a hotkey is held down.
• Controls Visible Duration: Sets how long player controls stay visible after a skip.

Buffering Protection Toggle

Added a new toggle to control the buffering protection feature, allowing you to enable or disable protection against YouTube's problematic black screen buffering state. Disabling will allow you to seek through even when the player is buffering.

Action & Player Timing Panel Updates

The "Action & Player Timing" panel has been updated with the following key features for a cleaner, more intuitive experience:

New Collapsible Panel

For a cleaner interface, advanced controls are now located in a "More settings" section. This includes:

• Action Delay: A small delay before seeking to prevent stuttering.
• Seek Throttle: Prevents spamming rapid skip commands.
• Seek Interval: Controls the speed of continuous seeking when a hotkey is held down.
• Controls Visible Duration: Sets how long player controls stay visible after a skip.

Buffering Protection Toggle

Added a new toggle to control the buffering protection feature, allowing you to enable or disable protection against YouTube's problematic black screen buffering state. Disabling will allow you to seek through even when the player is buffering.

Version [4.2.3] - [July 27th, 2025]

Enhanced Progress Bar Updates

• Improved Progress Bar Responsiveness: Progress bar now updates immediately after seeking operations
• Multi-Method Progress Refresh: Implemented multiple fallback methods to ensure progress bar updates reliably
• Real-Time Progress Tracking: Enhanced visual feedback during fast forward/rewind operations

Control Visibility Improvements

• Extended Control Visibility: YouTube controls now remain visible for 5 seconds (increased from 2.5 seconds) during seeking
• Smart Control Management: Controls automatically stay visible while actively seeking through video content
• Continuous Control Refresh: Added 500ms interval-based refreshing to maintain control visibility during operations

Enhanced User Experience

• Smoother Seeking Operations: Improved handling of rapid and continuous seek operations
• Better Visual Feedback: Enhanced responsiveness of YouTube's native progress indicators
• Proper Cleanup: Ensures YouTube's normal control hiding behavior is restored after extension use

Performance & Reliability

• Memory Leak Prevention: Added proper cleanup of timing intervals and event listeners
• Optimized Refresh Rate: Balanced performance with smooth user experience at 500ms refresh intervals
• Improved State Management: Better handling of extension state during video playback

Bug Fixes

• Fixed issues with progress bar not updating immediately after seeking
• Resolved control hiding conflicts with YouTube's native behavior
• Improved extension cleanup when switching between videos

Version 4.2.2 [July 7th, 2025]

Major Upgrade to Manifest V3

The extension now uses Manifest V3, the latest browser standard, for improved security, performance, and future compatibility.

Other Fixes & Improvements

• Your Settings Are Now Safe! Fixed the major bug that caused your custom skip times and hotkeys to be reset after every update. Your preferences will now be saved correctly between versions.
• Smarter Updates: The extension's update process is now much smarter. It will always carry over your existing settings smoothly when new versions are released.

Version 4.2.1 [July 7th, 2025]

New Icon: Changed the FF/RW Icon since it was not viewable for light mode users.
This icon will be temporary for the time being.

Version 4.2.1 [July 7th, 2025]

New Icon: Changed the FF/RW Icon since it was not viewable for light mode users.
This icon will be temporary for the time being.

Version 4.2 [July 5th, 2025]

New Features

On-Screen Skip Indicator: When you use your keyboard's arrow keys (← / →) to skip, a sleek new indicator now appears on the video. It shows you exactly how many seconds you're skipping and has smooth animations to give you clear feedback.

Usage Statistics: Curious about how much time you've saved? A new "Statistics" panel in the Advanced Settings tracks your total skips. This data is 100% private, stored only on your computer, and is never collected or viewed by us. You can reset your stats at any time.

Improvements & Fixes

• Smarter Notifications: I completely overhauled the pop-up "toast" notifications to be clearer and more helpful.

If you ever encounter a problem or have an idea for a new feature, please report it on the GitHub Issues page. I will get to it as soon as I can.

Version 4.2 [July 5th, 2025]

New Features

On-Screen Skip Indicator: When you use your keyboard's arrow keys (← / →) to skip, a sleek new indicator now appears on the video. It shows you exactly how many seconds you're skipping and has smooth animations to give you clear feedback.

Usage Statistics: Curious about how much time you've saved? A new "Statistics" panel in the Advanced Settings tracks your total skips. This data is 100% private, stored only on your computer, and is never collected or viewed by us. You can reset your stats at any time.

Improvements & Fixes

• Smarter Notifications: I completely overhauled the pop-up "toast" notifications to be clearer and more helpful.

If you ever encounter a problem or have an idea for a new feature, please report it on the GitHub Issues page. I will get to it as soon as I can.

Version 4.1.1 [July 1st, 2025]

Fixed a critical bug that caused the YouTube player's progress bar and time display to stutter and lag during playback.

Version 4.1 [July 1st, 2025]

New Feature: Allows the user to set the player buttons positioning from either the left or right side of the YouTube Player.

Under The Hood: Downscaled the arrow icons for a smaller extension size.

Version 4.0.1 [June 22nd, 2025]

• Icon changes

Version 4.0 [June 21st, 2025]

This is a major release focused on giving you more control over your viewing experience, redesigning the UI for clarity, and improving overall performance.



New Features & Major Enhancements

• Fully Customizable Hotkeys
  • Take complete control of your keyboard. You can now assign custom keys for skipping forward and backward (e.g., J and L).
  • The UI prevents you from using the same key for both actions.
  • A new reset button lets you restore the default hotkeys (← and →) instantly.
• New Advanced Settings Page
  • A dedicated section for power users has been added.
  • Action Delay Control: Fine-tune player responsiveness with a new experimental setting to add a small delay (in ms) after a skip command. Perfect for preventing buffering on some systems.

UI & UX Improvements

• Collapsible Setting Panels
  • Preset and hotkey editors are now neatly tucked away in collapsible panels. Click the edit icon to expand and customize, keeping the interface clean and focused.
• Clear Visual States
  • Disabled sections are now grayed out and their editors are automatically collapsed, providing a clear visual cue for which settings are active.
• Improved Number Inputs
  • All number fields have been upgraded to custom spinner controls with up and down buttons for quick and easy value adjustments.
• Enhanced User Guidance
  • New tooltips have been added to explain advanced features like Action Delay, ensuring you know exactly what each setting does.

Under-the-Hood Fixes & Improvements

• Robust Settings Migration
  • Your settings are now automatically and safely preserved across future extension updates. No more resets.
• Smoother Button Animations
  • The on-screen forward and rewind buttons now appear with a much smoother, flicker-free animation.

Version 4.1 [July 1st, 2025]

New Feature: Allows the user to set the player buttons positioning from either the left or right side of the YouTube Player.

Under The Hood: Downscaled the arrow icons for a smaller extension size.

Version 4.0.1 [June 22nd, 2025]

• Icon changes

Version 4.0 [June 21st, 2025]

This is a major release focused on giving you more control over your viewing experience, redesigning the UI for clarity, and improving overall performance.



New Features & Major Enhancements

• Fully Customizable Hotkeys
  • Take complete control of your keyboard. You can now assign custom keys for skipping forward and backward (e.g., J and L).
  • The UI prevents you from using the same key for both actions.
  • A new reset button lets you restore the default hotkeys (← and →) instantly.
• New Advanced Settings Page
  • A dedicated section for power users has been added.
  • Action Delay Control: Fine-tune player responsiveness with a new experimental setting to add a small delay (in ms) after a skip command. Perfect for preventing buffering on some systems.

UI & UX Improvements

• Collapsible Setting Panels
  • Preset and hotkey editors are now neatly tucked away in collapsible panels. Click the edit icon to expand and customize, keeping the interface clean and focused.
• Clear Visual States
  • Disabled sections are now grayed out and their editors are automatically collapsed, providing a clear visual cue for which settings are active.
• Improved Number Inputs
  • All number fields have been upgraded to custom spinner controls with up and down buttons for quick and easy value adjustments.
• Enhanced User Guidance
  • New tooltips have been added to explain advanced features like Action Delay, ensuring you know exactly what each setting does.

Under-the-Hood Fixes & Improvements

• Robust Settings Migration
  • Your settings are now automatically and safely preserved across future extension updates. No more resets.
• Smoother Button Animations
  • The on-screen forward and rewind buttons now appear with a much smoother, flicker-free animation.

Version 4.0.1 [June 22nd, 2025]

• Icon changes

Version 4.0 [June 21st, 2025]

This is a major release focused on giving you more control over your viewing experience, redesigning the UI for clarity, and improving overall performance.



New Features & Major Enhancements

• Fully Customizable Hotkeys
  • Take complete control of your keyboard. You can now assign custom keys for skipping forward and backward (e.g., J and L).
  • The UI prevents you from using the same key for both actions.
  • A new reset button lets you restore the default hotkeys (← and →) instantly.
• New Advanced Settings Page
  • A dedicated section for power users has been added.
  • Action Delay Control: Fine-tune player responsiveness with a new experimental setting to add a small delay (in ms) after a skip command. Perfect for preventing buffering on some systems.

UI & UX Improvements

• Collapsible Setting Panels
  • Preset and hotkey editors are now neatly tucked away in collapsible panels. Click the edit icon to expand and customize, keeping the interface clean and focused.
• Clear Visual States
  • Disabled sections are now grayed out and their editors are automatically collapsed, providing a clear visual cue for which settings are active.
• Improved Number Inputs
  • All number fields have been upgraded to custom spinner controls with up and down buttons for quick and easy value adjustments.
• Enhanced User Guidance
  • New tooltips have been added to explain advanced features like Action Delay, ensuring you know exactly what each setting does.

Under-the-Hood Fixes & Improvements

• Robust Settings Migration
  • Your settings are now automatically and safely preserved across future extension updates. No more resets.
• Smoother Button Animations
  • The on-screen forward and rewind buttons now appear with a much smoother, flicker-free animation.

Version 4.0 [June 21st, 2025]

This is a major release focused on giving you more control over your viewing experience, redesigning the UI for clarity, and improving overall performance.



New Features & Major Enhancements

• Fully Customizable Hotkeys
  • Take complete control of your keyboard. You can now assign custom keys for skipping forward and backward (e.g., J and L).
  • The UI prevents you from using the same key for both actions.
  • A new reset button lets you restore the default hotkeys (← and →) instantly.
• New Advanced Settings Page
  • A dedicated section for power users has been added.
  • Action Delay Control: Fine-tune player responsiveness with a new experimental setting to add a small delay (in ms) after a skip command. Perfect for preventing buffering on some systems.

UI & UX Improvements

• Collapsible Setting Panels
  • Preset and hotkey editors are now neatly tucked away in collapsible panels. Click the edit icon to expand and customize, keeping the interface clean and focused.
• Clear Visual States
  • Disabled sections are now grayed out and their editors are automatically collapsed, providing a clear visual cue for which settings are active.
• Improved Number Inputs
  • All number fields have been upgraded to custom spinner controls with up and down buttons for quick and easy value adjustments.
• Enhanced User Guidance
  • New tooltips have been added to explain advanced features like Action Delay, ensuring you know exactly what each setting does.

Under-the-Hood Fixes & Improvements

• Robust Settings Migration
  • Your settings are now automatically and safely preserved across future extension updates. No more resets.
• Smoother Button Animations
  • The on-screen forward and rewind buttons now appear with a much smoother, flicker-free animation.

[v3.7.5 May 31st, 2025]

Enhanced Ad Experience: Your custom fast-forward/rewind buttons and keyboard shortcuts will now remain active and functional even when YouTube advertisements are playing.

Smart Ad Skipping: The fast-forward button and the right-arrow keyboard shortcut will now attempt to skip ads. This works by: Trying to click YouTube's native "Skip Ad" button if available. If no skip button is found, attempting to fast-forward the ad to its end.

Enhanced YouTube Navigation Stability: Resolved a bug where the extension's buttons and keyboard shortcuts could become unresponsive after navigating to a new video from a channel page or other internal YouTube links (improving behavior with YouTube's dynamic page loading).

[v3.7.3 May 14th, 2025]

Smoother Buttons: I've improved how the fast-forward and rewind buttons load on YouTube. They should now appear more smoothly when you start a video or click to a new one, with less of an abrupt "pop-in." This makes them feel more integrated with the player.

Code Organization: I've reorganized some of the extension's code "under the hood." I moved the styling rules for the popup settings window out of the popup.html file and into the main style.css file. This doesn't change how the popup looks to you, but it makes the code neater and easier for me to manage for future updates.


If anything is broken, please issue a bug report on my GitHub!
https://github.com/Laskco/YouTube-Fast-Forward-and-Rewind/issues

[v3.7.2 May 13th, 2025]

• Fixed Keyboard Skipping: Squashed a bug where setting your keyboard arrow keys to skip 5 seconds (or other amounts) might have only skipped 1 second. Your custom skip times should now work correctly every time!
• Smaller Extension Size: Removed some old, unused image files to make the extension a little lighter.

[v3.7.1 May 2nd, 2025]
YouTube has been changing a lot of the core functionality of their website which has been breaking my extension. So if the extension breaks please leave a comment on my GitHub.

• Fixed YouTube hijacking the keyboard shortcuts.

[v3.7 May 1st, 2025]
- Added tooltips instead of (Customizable Presets).
- Fixed the YouTube player from disappearing when hovering over the customizable buttons.

[v3.5] - April 17, 2025

New Features:

Light & Dark Theme Support: You can now switch between a new Light Theme and the original Dark Theme using the Sun/Moon toggle button in the header! Your preference is automatically saved.

Reset Button Keeps Your Theme: Clicking "Reset to Default" now only resets the skip time settings and toggles, leaving your chosen Light or Dark theme preference untouched.


UI Fixes & Polish:

Smoother Toggle Buttons: Fixed visual pixelation around the edges of toggle switches for a cleaner look.

Header Layout: Adjusted spacing between the icons in the header for a more polished appearance.


[v3.4] - April 12th, 2025

Popup UI fixes/adjustments


[v3.3] - April 11th, 2025

UI Redesign: Revamped the entire popup interface for a cleaner look and better user experience.
New Toggles: Added convenient switches in the popup to toggle button and keyboard controls on/off.
New Presets: Implemented customizable skip time presets for one-click application of your preferred settings.
Performance: Enhanced overall extension speed and efficiency.
QOL: Made various small improvements to streamline usage.
Feedback: Please report issues and requests on GitHub
License: Added a custom license file to the extension. Please review the included license file for terms of use.


[v3.3] - April 11th, 2025

• UI Redesign: Revamped the entire popup interface for a cleaner look and better user experience.
• New Toggles: Added convenient switches in the popup to toggle button and keyboard controls on/off.
• New Presets: Implemented customizable skip time presets for one-click application of your preferred settings.
• Performance: Enhanced overall extension speed and efficiency.
• QOL: Made various small improvements to streamline usage.
• Feedback: Please report issues and requests on GitHub
• License: Added a custom license file to the extension. Please review the included license file for terms of use.

Release Notes - April 02, 2025

New Features

• Added Skippable Timestamps: Users can now set specific times to skip using the arrow keys on the keyboard..

Improvements

• Revamped Popup UI: The popup user interface has been completely redesigned for a fresher look and improved usability.

Bug Fixes

• Squashed Some Bugs: Addressed various minor issues to enhance overall stability and performance.

Enjoy the update!

#Fixed unused permissions

- Updated the Popup UI to be a little more unique.
- When Enabled and Disabling the extension it will now clearly state "Extension Enabled" or "Extension Disabled" for the text.

New Features:

- Redesigned fast forward and rewind buttons
- Added customizable skip times with an updating button to show selected duration
- Improved overall functionality

Bug Fixes:

- Resolved issues with YouTube Free Movies
- Squashed various bugs
- Enhanced reliability and performance

#Adjusted the button position slightly in 2.1

#Fixed Initial Load of the Extension on YouTube

#Changed the pop-out to be in dark mode
#When enabling and disabling the extension the text will change to Enable Extension and Disable Extension

Release Notes

Fixed:
#The extension now activates properly when you turn it on or off.
#More performance fixes.

New:
#The popout window looks cleaner and is easier to use.