Navigating Video Lectures and Interactive PDFs
When you are studying complex STEM subjects, the last thing you want to fight with is a clunky interface. Standard mobile video players and generic document viewers simply aren’t built for the rigors of heavy academic content.
That is why the Science Scholars Academy (SSA) app is designed differently. We built our media tools to handle dense whiteboard lectures and heavy, formula-filled study guides gracefully. Here are some pro tips for getting the absolute best viewing and reading experience on your mobile device.
1. Mastering the SSA Video Player
Our built-in video player is designed for active students, not just casual viewing.
- Optimize for Whiteboards (Landscape Mode): Science and math lectures often feature instructors writing out long, complex formulas on whiteboards. To ensure you can read every single variable and exponent clearly, always rotate your device to landscape mode. The SSA video player will automatically detect the rotation and expand to fill your entire screen edge-to-edge.
- Adjusting Playback Speed: Some concepts require careful, methodical listening, while other lectures might just be a quick review of topics you already know. Tap the Settings Gear icon on the video player to adjust the playback speed. You can slow the video down to 0.5x to catch difficult explanations, or speed it up to 1.5x or 2.0x to review material before a big exam.
- Scrubbing and Rewinding: Missed what the instructor just said? Double-tap the left side of the video screen to instantly skip backward by 10 seconds. Double-tap the right side to skip forward.
2. Reading Interactive PDFs on Mobile
Trying to read a dense, 40-page academic paper or chemistry study guide on a smartphone can be a frustrating experience if you have to constantly pinch and zoom. The SSA app features a custom PDF reader designed specifically to eliminate that frustration.
- Smooth Scrolling: Unlike native phone browsers that often lag when rendering heavy PDFs, our custom viewer allows you to smoothly scroll through multi-page documents without stuttering or freezing, right inside the lesson view.
- Smart Auto-Save: Do you only have 10 minutes to study while waiting for the bus? Go ahead and open that long study guide. If you need to close the app suddenly, the PDF reader will remember your exact page number. The next time you open that document, you will pick up exactly where you left off.
- Orientation Lock: If you prefer reading PDFs in landscape mode, rotate your phone. The document will scale to the new width, making the text larger and easier to read without manual zooming.
3. Quick Tip for Maximum Focus
When you sit down for a serious study session using the SSA video player or PDF reader, we highly recommend utilizing your phone’s native “Do Not Disturb” or “Focus” modes. This ensures that a sudden text message or social media notification doesn’t pop up and cover a crucial part of a physics equation right as the instructor is explaining it!
Still having trouble?
If you have tried all the steps above and the app is still not functioning correctly, we are here to help! Please reach out to our technical support team at support@studywithssa.com with a brief description of the issue and the type of device you are using, and we will get you back to studying as quickly as possible.