diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/github/libretube/ui/fragments/PlayerFragment.kt b/app/src/main/java/com/github/libretube/ui/fragments/PlayerFragment.kt
index bf73e6a75..f37de433b 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/github/libretube/ui/fragments/PlayerFragment.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/github/libretube/ui/fragments/PlayerFragment.kt
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ class PlayerFragment : BaseFragment(), OnlinePlayerOptions {
      */
     private fun showBottomBar() {
         if (this::playerBinding.isInitialized && !binding.player.isPlayerLocked) {
-            playerBinding.exoBottomBar.visibility = View.VISIBLE
+            playerBinding.bottomBar.visibility = View.VISIBLE
         }
         handler.postDelayed(this::showBottomBar, 100)
     }
@@ -818,11 +818,6 @@ class PlayerFragment : BaseFragment(), OnlinePlayerOptions {
 
     private fun prepareExoPlayerView() {
         exoPlayerView.apply {
-            setShowSubtitleButton(false)
-            setShowNextButton(false)
-            setShowPreviousButton(false)
-            // controllerShowTimeoutMs = 1500
-            controllerHideOnTouch = true
             useController = false
             player = exoPlayer
         }
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/github/libretube/ui/views/CustomExoPlayerView.kt b/app/src/main/java/com/github/libretube/ui/views/CustomExoPlayerView.kt
index 4f2fe027e..36e1aad9c 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/github/libretube/ui/views/CustomExoPlayerView.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/github/libretube/ui/views/CustomExoPlayerView.kt
@@ -89,6 +89,10 @@ internal class CustomExoPlayerView(
     // saved to only load the playback speed once (for the first video)
     private var playbackPrefSet = false
 
+    private val hideControllerRunnable = Runnable {
+        hideController()
+    }
+
     fun initialize(
         playerViewInterface: OnlinePlayerOptions?,
         doubleTapOverlayBinding: DoubleTapOverlayBinding,
@@ -111,6 +115,9 @@ internal class CustomExoPlayerView(
         applyCaptionsStyle()
         initializeAdvancedOptions(context)
 
+        // don't let the player view hide its controls automatically
+        controllerShowTimeoutMs = -1
+
         if (!playbackPrefSet) {
             player?.playbackParameters = PlaybackParameters(
                 PlayerHelper.playbackSpeed.toFloat(),
@@ -196,12 +203,22 @@ internal class CustomExoPlayerView(
 
     override fun hideController() {
         if (resources.configuration.orientation == Configuration.ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE) {
-            // hide all the navigation bars that potentially could have been reopened manually ba the user
+            // hide all the navigation bars that potentially could have been reopened manually by the user
             (context as? MainActivity)?.windowHelper?.setFullscreen()
         }
+        // remove the callback to hide the controller
+        handler.removeCallbacks(hideControllerRunnable)
         super.hideController()
     }
 
+    override fun showController() {
+        // remove the previous callback from the queue to prevent a flashing behavior
+        handler.removeCallbacks(hideControllerRunnable)
+        // automatically hide the controller after 2 seconds
+        handler.postDelayed(hideControllerRunnable, 2000)
+        super.showController()
+    }
+
     override fun onTouchEvent(event: MotionEvent): Boolean {
         return false
     }
@@ -327,7 +344,7 @@ internal class CustomExoPlayerView(
 
         binding.exoTopBarRight.visibility = visibility
         binding.exoCenterControls.visibility = visibility
-        binding.exoBottomBar.visibility = visibility
+        binding.bottomBar.visibility = visibility
         binding.closeImageButton.visibility = visibility
         binding.exoTitle.visibility = visibility
         binding.playPauseBTN.visibility = visibility
@@ -555,15 +572,12 @@ internal class CustomExoPlayerView(
         }
 
         // add a margin to the top and the bottom bar in landscape mode for notches
-        val newMargin = if (
-            newConfig?.orientation == Configuration.ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE
-        ) {
-            LANDSCAPE_MARGIN_HORIZONTAL
-        } else {
-            0
+        val newMargin = when (newConfig?.orientation) {
+            Configuration.ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE -> LANDSCAPE_MARGIN_HORIZONTAL
+            else -> 0
         }
 
-        listOf(binding.exoTopBar, binding.exoBottomBar).forEach {
+        listOf(binding.topBar, binding.bottomBar).forEach {
             val params = it.layoutParams as MarginLayoutParams
             params.marginStart = newMargin
             params.marginEnd = newMargin
@@ -574,7 +588,7 @@ internal class CustomExoPlayerView(
     /**
      * Load the captions style according to the users preferences
      */
-    fun applyCaptionsStyle() {
+    private fun applyCaptionsStyle() {
         val captionStyle = PlayerHelper.getCaptionStyle(context)
         subtitleView?.apply {
             setApplyEmbeddedFontSizes(false)
diff --git a/app/src/main/res/layout/exo_styled_player_control_view.xml b/app/src/main/res/layout/exo_styled_player_control_view.xml
index 97d6bffed..a4fb1cced 100644
--- a/app/src/main/res/layout/exo_styled_player_control_view.xml
+++ b/app/src/main/res/layout/exo_styled_player_control_view.xml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
         android:background="@color/exo_black_opacity_60" />
 
     <LinearLayout
-        android:id="@+id/exo_top_bar"
+        android:id="@+id/top_bar"
         android:layout_width="match_parent"
         android:layout_height="wrap_content"
         android:layout_gravity="top"
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@
     </LinearLayout>
 
     <LinearLayout
-        android:id="@id/exo_bottom_bar"
+        android:id="@+id/bottom_bar"
         android:layout_width="match_parent"
         android:layout_height="wrap_content"
         android:layout_gravity="bottom"
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@
             android:layout_marginBottom="10dp">
 
             <com.github.libretube.ui.views.MarkableTimeBar
-                android:id="@id/exo_progress"
+                android:id="@+id/exo_progress"
                 android:layout_width="match_parent"
                 android:layout_height="16dp"
                 app:bar_height="2dp"