meredith kercher

Hot on the heels of Quietube, the YouTube enhancer we covered last week, reader Jason wrote in to let us know about a similar project he co-created named Theeter. Like Quietube it removes all the UI elements from a YouTube video and presents everything in a stark black or white background. It also throws in some nice features that advanced users will like, such as the option to change the color scheme or the aspect ratio, default to the HD or HQ stream, auto-play the video, and pick the precise time when it should start. meredith kercher

Additionally, Theeter has a bookmarklet that lets you create a Theeter page from any clip you're on. It also allows users to create a custom link to their creation that will bring along all the changes they made like the start time and UI color. The only difference is that instead of using a shortening service like TinyURL, Theeter's got one built-in, so you can create your own vanity URL within the Theeter domain.

These tools continue to add to the YouTube watching experience by simply reducing what's on the page. YouTube has made efforts of its own to cut down on the noise by compartmentalizing features into nested menu items and rolling out a "dimmer switch" on some long-form content, however it's not yet a part of all the videos on the service. meredith kercher