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There’s a fun new way to watch YouTube: channel surfing like a boomer on cable TV. This creative idea comes from the London-based developer. Steven IrbyI just launched a web application called channel surferwhich presents interesting YouTube videos in an interface reminiscent of a retro-looking TV guide.
In the app, you can browse through different themed channels and click to tune in as if you were watching live TV.
At launch, there are 40 of these personalized “channels” to choose from, including those focused on general topics such as news, politics, sports and lifestyle content, as well as a selection of music channels and others with a more technological focus.
The last group includes channels such as “AI & ML”, “Code & Dev”, “Space”, “Retro Tech”, “Tech & Gadgets” and “Gaming”.
As you move between channels, you join the video playing mid-stream. Meanwhile, the guide informs you of upcoming content across all channels and what time of day it will play. You can also scroll forward to see the scheduled programming for the next 24 hours.
This makes watching YouTube a lot like watching old-school live TV, an experience that’s proven popular on free streaming services like Plex, Pluto TV, Tubi and others, which offer live channel listings streaming TV shows and movies. Meanwhile, YouTube itself dominates broadcast TV in the US.
Plus, a small counter at the bottom of the screen tracks how many other people are currently watching YouTube with you.
Irby says he came up with the idea of creating a similar experience on streamers, but for YouTube videos, because finding something to watch can still be a struggle.
“I built Channel Surfer because I’m tired of algorithms and indecision fatigue,” Irby told TechCrunch. “I miss channel surfing and not having to decide what to watch. I just want to sit back and tune in to what’s on and not think about what to watch next.”
“My boomer mom watches cable TV. I want the same thing, but with my YouTube channels. Plus, it’s strangely comforting to know that I’m watching with other people,” she said.
The project is one of many new experiments by Irby, a 40-year tech industry veteran who has spent more than a decade traveling the world.
“I have so much creativity thanks to my long, strange journey. I can’t stand the thought of being a Jira monkey anymore,” he said.
The app seems to be a success, with Irby observing that The new Channel Surfer website It got more than 10,000 views on its first day.
Under the hood, Channel Surfer is, for now, a static Next.js site you use party kit and is housed in cloud flare. The channels and music offered are from the list carefully selected by Ibry. GitHub Actions is used to run a script that updates the data daily. There is no backend yet.
and while claudio With the help of the encryption process, the site is not “vibration encrypted,” Irby says.
Basically, the channels themselves play YouTube embeds, including YouTube ads, so the app should not violate the policy. Eventually, Irby says he’d love to bring the app to TV platforms, like Fire TV, Google TV and others. (It also works on mobile and tablet devices, but needs more work.)
At launch, Channel Surf is a free service that offers access to 175 YouTube channels and 25 music playlists. But if you subscribe to Irby’s fact sheetYou have the option to import your own YouTube subscriptions into the app.
It’s a quick and dirty process to do this: you drag a “Channel Surfer” bookmarklet to your bookmarks bar, then open your YouTube subscriptions and click on the bookmarklet. The process begins and directs you back to the application where you paste the copied JSON text into a box and click the “import” button. This adds your own channels to Channel Surfer’s existing list, potentially giving you hundreds more channels to watch in this format.
The site’s existence dates back to the early days of the web, full of fun experiments and creativity. For Irby, that’s the point.
“I’m obsessed with showing the world that the old Web is still alive and well,” he says. “It’s just buried under a mountain of mud.”
