Just the player

About

Just the Player is a utility designed to eliminate visual clutter on YouTube™. It operates applying a dark overlay to surrounding all interface elements.

The extension is designed to be unobtrusive. It intelligently detects mouse movement, scrolling, and typing to reveal or hide the interface, ensuring content is visible when needed without requiring any manual interaction.

KEY FEATURES:

- Theater Mode Integration: The dimming effect activates automatically upon entering Theater Mode and remains inactive during standard viewing.

- Dynamic Visibility: The interface reappears instantly when the cursor enters the window or moves, and fades out when the cursor leaves or becomes inactive.

- Context Awareness: The overlay automatically disables if the user scrolls down to read comments or uses the search bar.

- Seamless Navigation: The overlay removes itself instantly when navigating to the feed.

- Three-State Control: Clicking the extension icon cycles through:
          - Full Focus: Complete blackout of the interface.
          - And Credits: Blackout, but keeps the video title and channel.
          - Disabled: The extension is turned off.

TECHINICAL DETAILS:

- Desktop Optimized: The extension strictly checks for hover capability. It automatically disables itself on touch-only devices (tablets/mobile) to prevent usability conflicts.

- Performance: Utilizes lightweight scripts and native CSS transitions to ensure zero impact on video loading or browser performance.

NOTE:

Not yet fully optimized for Light Mode.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

The idea for this project was inspired by the Turn Off the Lights extension (https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/bfbmjmiodbnnpllbbbfblcplfjjepjdn). I am deeply grateful to its creator, Stefan, for sharing his code, which serves as source for maintaining the CSS compatibility required for YouTube™.