> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/yuliskov/SmartTube/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Settings Overview

> Comprehensive guide to SmartTube settings including buffer configuration, background playback, UI customization, and theme options

SmartTube provides extensive customization options through its settings menu. This guide covers the main settings sections and important configuration options.

## Accessing Settings

Open SmartTube and navigate to the settings menu from the main screen. Settings are organized into logical sections for easy navigation.

## Settings Sections

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="General Settings" icon="gear">
    App behavior, language, country, and basic preferences
  </Card>

  <Card title="Video Player" icon="play">
    Quality presets, codecs, playback speed, and player controls
  </Card>

  <Card title="Remote Control" icon="remote">
    Device pairing, casting, and TV code linking
  </Card>

  <Card title="Background Playback" icon="window-restore">
    Picture-in-Picture and background audio settings
  </Card>

  <Card title="Interface" icon="palette">
    Themes, UI scale, customizable buttons, and appearance
  </Card>

  <Card title="About" icon="circle-info">
    Updates, version info, and built-in updater
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Buffer Settings

Buffer settings control how much video data is preloaded ahead of your current playback position.

### High vs Low Buffer

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="High Buffer (Recommended)">
    **Advantages:**

    * More video preloaded ahead of current position
    * Smooths out network issues and prevents buffering pauses
    * Better experience on unstable connections
    * Minimal impact on RAM usage

    **Best for:**

    * Users with unstable internet connections
    * Watching longer videos
    * Preventing playback interruptions

    <Tip>
      **Recommendation: High buffer** - The benefits far outweigh any minimal RAM usage increase.
    </Tip>
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Low Buffer">
    **Advantages:**

    * Slightly lower RAM usage
    * Minimal bandwidth savings if you often close videos early

    **Disadvantages:**

    * More likely to pause for buffering
    * Less protection against network hiccups
    * May interrupt playback more frequently

    **Best for:**

    * Devices with very limited RAM (rare)
    * Users who frequently skip through videos
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

<Accordion title="Buffer Setting Location">
  **How to adjust buffer:**

  1. Open SmartTube
  2. Go to **Settings**
  3. Navigate to **Video Player** section
  4. Look for **Buffer** options
  5. Select **High** or **Low**

  <Info>
    The higher your buffer, the more video will be preloaded. A high buffer increases RAM usage slightly but shouldn't cause issues on modern devices.
  </Info>
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Known Buffer Limitations">
  <Warning>
    **Seeking backwards:** When you seek back (e.g., jump back 5 seconds), SmartTube will have to rebuffer. The buffer is not retained when seeking backwards.
  </Warning>

  This may be improved in a future update.
</Accordion>

## Background Playback Options

SmartTube supports playing videos while using other apps or when the screen is off.

### Picture-in-Picture (PiP)

<Steps>
  <Step title="Enable Picture-in-Picture">
    Navigate to **Settings** → **General** → **Background playback** → **Picture in picture**

    Enable this option to allow videos to continue in a small floating window.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure PiP Activation">
    Set when PiP should activate:

    * **Home button**: Video enters PiP when you press home (default)
    * **Back button**: Video enters PiP when you press back (optional)

    Configure in **Settings** → **General** → **Background playback (activation)**
  </Step>

  <Step title="Use Picture-in-Picture">
    While playing a video:

    * Press the **Home** button (or **Back** if enabled)
    * Video continues in a small window
    * Navigate to other apps while watching
    * Tap the PiP window to return to full screen
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Accordion title="Picture-in-Picture Settings">
  **Available PiP options:**

  * **Enable/Disable PiP**: Turn the feature on or off
  * **Activation triggers**: Choose which buttons activate PiP
  * **Window size**: Some devices allow PiP window size adjustment
  * **Position**: PiP window position on screen (device dependent)

  <Info>
    PiP support and options vary by device and Android version. Some features may not be available on older devices.
  </Info>
</Accordion>

### Background Audio

<Accordion title="Audio Playback When Screen Is Off">
  Background audio allows music or podcasts to continue playing with the screen off.

  **Configuration:**

  1. Go to **Settings** → **General** → **Background playback**
  2. Enable background audio options
  3. Choose screen-off behavior

  **Use cases:**

  * Music videos and playlists
  * Podcasts and interviews
  * Saving battery on long audio content
</Accordion>

## Customization Options

### Theme and UI Settings

<Accordion title="Theme Options">
  SmartTube offers multiple theme choices for different preferences and viewing conditions.

  **Available themes:**

  * **Dark theme** (default) - Best for low-light environments
  * **Light theme** - Better for bright environments
  * **Black/OLED theme** - Pure black backgrounds for OLED displays
  * **Custom color themes** - Various color scheme options

  **How to change theme:**

  1. Go to **Settings** → **Interface**
  2. Select **Theme** or **Appearance**
  3. Choose your preferred theme
  4. Theme applies immediately

  <Tip>
    OLED users: Use the pure black theme to save power and reduce screen burn-in risk.
  </Tip>
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Interface Scale and Layout">
  Adjust UI size and layout to match your screen size and viewing distance.

  **Options:**

  * **UI scale**: Make interface elements larger or smaller
  * **Card size**: Adjust thumbnail/card dimensions
  * **Text size**: Increase or decrease text readability
  * **Sidebar position**: Customize menu placement

  **Configuration:**

  * Navigate to **Settings** → **Interface**
  * Adjust scale and layout options
  * Changes apply immediately
</Accordion>

### Customizable Buttons

SmartTube allows customization of on-screen buttons and remote control mappings.

<Accordion title="Custom Button Configuration">
  You can customize which buttons appear in the player interface:

  **Customizable elements:**

  * Player control buttons
  * Quick action buttons
  * Menu shortcuts
  * Long-press actions

  **How to customize:**

  1. Go to **Settings** → **Interface**
  2. Look for **Buttons** or **Controls** section
  3. Enable/disable specific buttons
  4. Reorder button positions (if supported)

  <Info>
    Customizable buttons give you quick access to frequently used features like playback speed, quality selection, and SponsorBlock.
  </Info>
</Accordion>

<Card title="Remote Control Configuration" icon="remote" href="/configuration/remote-control">
  Learn about remote control pairing, TV code linking, and button customization
</Card>

## Playback Settings

### Autoplay Modes

<Accordion title="Configuring Autoplay Behavior">
  Control what happens when a video ends.

  **How to change autoplay mode:**

  * While playing a video, press the **loop button** 🔁
  * Cycles through different autoplay modes

  **Available modes:**

  * **Autoplay on**: Next video starts automatically
  * **Autoplay off**: Video stops after each video ends
  * **Repeat one**: Current video loops continuously
  * **Repeat all**: Playlist or queue loops continuously

  <Tip>
    You can quickly switch between autoplay modes using the loop button in the player interface.
  </Tip>
</Accordion>

### Playback Speed

<Accordion title="Adjusting Playback Speed">
  Change video playback speed for faster or slower viewing.

  **How to adjust:**

  1. While playing a video, press the **speed indicator** icon (gauge) in the top row
  2. Select desired speed (0.25x to 2x or higher)
  3. Speed is remembered across videos

  **Common speeds:**

  * **0.5x**: Slow motion, tutorials
  * **1.0x**: Normal speed
  * **1.25x**: Slightly faster, comfortable for most content
  * **1.5x**: Faster pacing, good for podcasts
  * **2.0x**: Very fast, for familiar content

  <Warning>
    **Known issue:** Some playback speeds may cause frame drops. This is a known limitation and cannot currently be fixed.
  </Warning>
</Accordion>

## Update Settings

SmartTube includes a built-in updater for easy updates.

<Accordion title="Update Configuration">
  **Built-in updater features:**

  * Automatic update checks (few seconds after launch)
  * Changelog display
  * Manual update option
  * Beta vs Stable channel selection

  **How to configure:**

  1. Go to **Settings** → **About**
  2. Choose update preferences:
     * Enable/disable automatic update checks
     * Select update channel (beta or stable)
  3. **Manual update**: Tap "Check for updates" to update immediately

  <Info>
    You only need to manually install SmartTube once. All future updates can be done through the built-in updater.
  </Info>
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Update Troubleshooting">
  **If update fails:**

  1. **Check disk space**: Most common cause - free up storage
  2. **Retry download**: Update may not have downloaded correctly
  3. **Manual update**: Go to **Settings** → **About** → **Check for updates**
  4. **Verify storage**: Install to internal memory, not SD card

  <Warning>
    Updates require sufficient disk space. Clear up storage if installation fails.
  </Warning>
</Accordion>

## Advanced Settings

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Country Selection" icon="globe">
    Change your region to affect video recommendations and trending content. Based on YouTube's algorithm, not the app.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Language Settings" icon="language">
    Select interface language and preferred subtitle languages for videos.
  </Card>

  <Card title="SponsorBlock" icon="forward">
    Configure automatic skipping of sponsored segments, intros, outros, and other video segments.
  </Card>

  <Card title="AFR (Auto Frame Rate)" icon="display">
    Adjust TV refresh rate to match video content. Most users should keep this off unless testing.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

### Auto Frame Rate (AFR)

<Accordion title="What is AFR?">
  **AFR = Auto Frame Rate**

  It adjusts your TV's refresh rate to match the content you're watching.

  **Benefits:**

  * Slightly smoother playback
  * Eliminates judder on some displays
  * The difference is very small

  **Drawbacks:**

  * Doesn't work well on all hardware
  * May cause screen blanking during transitions
  * Most people barely notice the improvement

  <Tip>
    **Recommendation:** You can turn AFR on to see if it works on your device. If it causes issues or you don't care to test, turn it **off**.
  </Tip>
</Accordion>

## Related Configuration

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Video Quality" icon="video" href="/configuration/video-quality">
    Configure default quality presets and resolution settings
  </Card>

  <Card title="Video Codecs" icon="film" href="/configuration/video-codecs">
    Choose between AV1, VP9, and AVC codecs
  </Card>

  <Card title="Remote Control" icon="remote" href="/configuration/remote-control">
    Set up device pairing and TV code linking
  </Card>
</CardGroup>