
Show HN: Simple Minimal YouTube Alternative Player (no ads...with powers) - orizens
http://beta.echotu.be/
======
pmlnr
mpv[1] can utilize youtube-dl[2] in the background for playback, so that is
on-the-fly downloaded video, with no ads, played as it was local video, hw
acceleration and all.

[1]: [https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv](https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv)

[2]: [https://rg3.github.io/youtube-dl/](https://rg3.github.io/youtube-dl/)

~~~
catdog
And it works not only with youtube but at plenty of other places as well.

------
ShinyCyril
I will have to check this out when I get the chance. I was deeply saddened
when YouTube killed their "Feather beta" feature which presented a super-
minimal version of the site with the intention of reducing load times on
slower internet connections.

~~~
SeanDav
I wouldn't have thought a minimal interface is required for YouTube.

If your internet connection is too slow to handle a more detailed interface,
how on earth is it going to cope with doing something like streaming video and
sound?

~~~
Quarrelsome
I think the idea is barely. Thus the adverts and extra load hurt the
experience too much. Consider that it might take some time to load the video,
now add in the advert on top of that and it might no longer be worth it.

~~~
st3v3r
Yet the advert is what's paying for the video and the bandwidth.

~~~
imglorp
I wonder if YT will begin inserting ads directly into the video file server
side. If you download the file to watch elsewhere, you get the whole package.
Viewers can skip the ads manually, or wait for someone to write a program to
detect scene changes and hope to skip the ads automatically. Then we're back
to the TIVO model.

~~~
thatcat
I doubt they will do this because they serve custom ads to each user, and to
split and merge video files is considerably less efficient than just loading
different files.

~~~
Something1234
Can't some video formats be concatenated? Something like this pipeline for
serving the ad:

    
    
        cat $(select_ad_file $user) $video_file

~~~
thatcat
I know ffmpeg can do that, i've never tried just using cat.

An additional reason for not serving ads in the video file is that their ad
clients probably want to know if someone watched it or not. By loading ad as a
file associated with the ad client it's easy to verify that someone watched
the ad and didn't just click out after 1s, etc.

~~~
NTripleOne
Not sure why you're being downvoted when that's entirely true; knowing what
audience has actually engaged with your ad can be just as (if not moreso)
valuable as an engagement in the first place.

------
cr3ative
Isn't this more of an alternative browser, as the playback uses YouTube's own
HTML5 player?

~~~
orizens
hi @cr3ative. imho, it suppose to give an alternative experience to youtube's
interface.

~~~
acedinlowball
imho thats what he said

------
TrueDuality
Looks like it's got some bugs preventing it from working.

You're loading the videos over HTTP while hosting your site on HTTPS which
will result in the iframe being blocked. This is a security issue anyway and
should be corrected.

Also looks like you're using localStorage and sessionStorage without checking
to see if they're available.

~~~
orizens
hi @TrueDuality. I updated the code over the last hour - so probably those
were the bugs. yes - currently it's hosted over http (github-pages) - however
- it functions correctly without it. regarding localStorage - currently, I
assume modern browsers are used - it works on Chrome (desktop - Mac, Windows /
android). Thanks for the feedback.

~~~
egeozcan
Modern browsers can have no localStorage available too. See:
[https://gist.github.com/JohnAllsopp/1470989](https://gist.github.com/JohnAllsopp/1470989)

------
aq3cn
Awesome app. A Grooveshark replacement for me.

I don't know if it too much to ask but Last.fm integration beyond just
scrobbling can be nice. I have used an app belonging to Windows store which
used to fetch full discography of searched artist from somewhere and show best
YouTube video song next to every track.

One question: Are there benefits of signing in beside being able to save
playlist?

Great work.

~~~
orizens
thanks. currently, benefits of sign-in is: load your youtube user playlists
and play them. save a playlist is a work in progress

------
tra3
Slightly offtopic. Is there a way to watch youtube videos across different
devices while preserving video location?

Use case: start watching conference videos or lectures on my phone, then move
to the laptop then continue on the tablet, then back to the computer.
Similarly to the way iBooks transparently preserves and syncs reading position
across devices.

~~~
Klathmon
Use the website or first-party clients, it does that if you are logged in.

(not trying to be snarky, if you tend to use 3rd party clients you might not
know)

~~~
tra3
Hmm.. I must be doing something wrong then. Logged in on my Chrome on Mac,
watched a video, paused it. Closed tab, reloaded tab. The video plays from the
beginning. Opened the same video on my iPhone, official youtube app. Plays
from the beginning as well.

I guess I need to investigate this further. I didn't realize official google
apps support this functionality because it's never worked for me. Thanks for
mentioning it.

~~~
orizens
hi @tra3 currently, Echoes doesn't support playing a video from where it was
recently paused. if more users request it - i'll add it.

~~~
tra3
That would be fantastic. Youtube API provides this information so it's
definitely possible.

------
findjashua
The page at '[https://orizens.github.io/echoes-
ng2/#/'](https://orizens.github.io/echoes-ng2/#/') was loaded over HTTPS, but
requested an insecure script
'[http://www.youtube.com/iframe_api'](http://www.youtube.com/iframe_api').
This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS.

~~~
orizens
hi. you should use http for now:

[http://orizens.github.io/echoes-ng2](http://orizens.github.io/echoes-ng2)

------
swah
MotionBox is another alternative player - actually he calls it a video
browser. Its Qt based:
[http://motionbox.handmade.network](http://motionbox.handmade.network)

------
anilgulecha
On a related note, NewPipe on Android a simple stripped down youtube client.

~~~
cyphar
Which is also free software, and available in FDroid.
[https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe](https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe)

------
Arubis
No powers, but I've long loved the ads- and comment-free experience of
quietube: [http://quietube.com](http://quietube.com)

------
mgalka
Awesome! I'm surprised Google hasn't come up with a way of preventing this.

Btw - anyone know how to adjust the volume?

------
vijucat
I also like the myTube app on Windows 10. It's the only Metro app I use.

------
tdkl
I need G+ for this ? Skip.

~~~
orizens
If you want to play playlists from your youtube account - then - yes.
Otherwise - g+ is not required.

~~~
tdkl
Hm, since usage of playlists is available now through Google Account login and
with G+ removed, is this somehow different in their API for 3rd party apps ?

~~~
orizens
G+ is Google Account. I'll change the sign-in button to display "Google Sign-
in" so it won't confuse. thanks for the feedback.

~~~
jameskegel
I like the way you're responding and quickly putting action items into the
pipeline.

~~~
orizens
Thanks

------
Thomas_9
Interesting, I wonder when will youtube shut it down in a way or another...

~~~
orizens
hi @Thomas_9. I'm using youtube's data api and player's api without any hacks.
I actually following the api's rules and available api.

~~~
Thomas_9
If it is basically youtube but you just remove ads, I tend to think they will
react. But I admit this is a feeling more than a sure fact. I can't remember
the name of the app that worked on top of a Google Api that was stopped in few
hours...

~~~
orizens
I don't remove any ads - only static ads are displayed - no video "trailers"
though.

