audiovideoyoutube
My internet connection is quite slow (128 kbps while browsing) and I want to know if I can disable video streaming on YouTube and listen only to the audio portion.
There are many songs on YouTube that I want to listen to with no need to watch the video. Will the streaming rate increase?
Some videos on YouTube are uploaded in a high resolution, for example 720p (720 pixels vertical resolution). However, the player window itself is just around 380 pixels high.
When you watch the video in the small player, it doesn't make sense to buffer the high-quality version. You wouldn't see all the pixels anyway.
When you switch to full-screen, notice that the resolution indicator in the bottom right can change, for example, to 480p or 720p, which is a completely different stream. Therefore, it has to be re-buffered.
You can change this behavior under Settings » Playback Setup » Video Playback Quality:
To change the setting fort this, follow the steps below:
Best Answer
There's an extension for Chrome, called "Audio Only Youtube" that does just that: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/audio-only-youtube/pkocpiliahoaohbolmkelakpiphnllog