Rudder Support
A Safari extension that controls YouTube playback from any tab.
Rudder adds a remote control to your Safari toolbar. Open a video on YouTube, switch to any other tab, and control playback from the popup or with a keyboard shortcut — without going back to the video.
Setting up
Rudder is a Safari extension, so it has to be enabled in Safari once before you can use it.
- Launch the Rudder app once after installing it.
- Open Safari › Settings › Extensions and turn on Rudder.
- Allow access to youtube.com when Safari asks. Rudder cannot read any other site.
- Open a video on youtube.com.
- Click the Rudder button in the Safari toolbar, or press Control + Shift + Y.
What you can control
The popup shows the current video's title, channel and thumbnail, plus a seek bar with elapsed and remaining time. From there you can:
- Play and pause
- Skip back or forward 10 seconds
- Jump to the previous or next video
- Scrub anywhere in the timeline
- Adjust volume or mute
- Change playback speed from 0.5× to 2×
Shorts are supported too, including moving through the feed.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Open the remote | Control + Shift + Y |
| Play / pause | Control + Shift + P |
| Seek backward 10 seconds | Control + Shift + ← |
| Seek forward 10 seconds | Control + Shift + → |
| Next video | Not assigned by default |
| Previous video | Not assigned by default |
| Mute / unmute | Not assigned by default |
You can change any of these, or assign the unassigned ones, in Safari › Settings › Extensions by clicking Keyboard Shortcuts.
Frequently asked questions
I opened the app and nothing happened.
That is expected. The app is only a container for the extension — all of Rudder's features live in Safari. Follow the steps in Setting up above to enable it.
The popup says "Nothing playing".
Rudder controls videos on youtube.com only. Make sure a YouTube tab is open with a video loaded, and that you granted Rudder access to youtube.com in Safari's extension settings.
The toolbar button is missing.
Right-click Safari's toolbar, choose Customize Toolbar, and drag the Rudder button into place. If it is not listed, the extension is not enabled yet.
A keyboard shortcut does nothing.
Another app or another Safari extension may already use that combination. Open Safari › Settings › Extensions › Keyboard Shortcuts and assign a different one.
Does Rudder work with videos on other sites?
No. Rudder requests access to youtube.com and nothing else, by design. It cannot see or control any other website.
What data does Rudder collect?
None. Rudder has no accounts, no analytics and no network requests of its own. Your preferences are stored locally in Safari and never leave your Mac.
Requirements
macOS 13 Ventura or later, with Safari.
Contact
Still stuck, or found a bug? Send the details — your macOS and Safari versions, and what you were doing — and you will get a reply.