The way students move through your course content has a direct impact on how much they engage, how far they get, and how they feel about the experience. Clunky navigation, manual completion steps, and no continuity between lessons all add friction that slows learners down.

This update addresses all of that.

A set of improvements to the lesson experience has been rolled out across video playback, lesson completion, and learner experience controls - giving both students and course creators a smoother, more continuous journey from start to finish.

Video Player Improvements

Video lessons now auto-play when a lesson is opened, removing the extra click to get started.

An "Up Next" overlay now appears inside the player at the end of each video, showing the next lesson's thumbnail, a countdown timer before auto-play begins, and a "Play Now" action to skip the wait. The lesson completion trigger has also been updated - lessons are now marked complete when sufficient progress is made and the learner moves forward, rather than requiring a manual action.

Lesson Completion Improvements

Text lessons now complete automatically on navigation - so as a student moves to the next lesson, the previous one is marked done. The need for manual "Mark as Complete" actions has been significantly reduced, making progress tracking more accurate and the experience more fluid.

Learner Experience Controls - Course Level

New configurable settings have been added for course creators, giving you more control over how learners move through your content:

• Auto-start first lesson - the course begins automatically when a student opens it

• Auto-play next lesson - lessons play one after another without any action needed

• Auto-complete lessons - lessons are marked complete automatically as students progress

• Apply settings across all courses - roll out your preferred experience settings across every course in one go

Why It Matters

Less friction means more progress. A course that flows continuously - like a binge-worthy streaming experience - keeps learners engaged longer and reduces the drop-off that happens when students have to manually navigate every step. And with creator-level controls, you decide exactly how that experience works for your audience.

Coming soon - custom lesson completion thresholds and fully automated, hands-free course progression.

If you have any questions about the Courses builder inside ESC Hub, the support team is here every day. Drop a message inside Escapepreneur Central.