There’s a enjoyable new method to watch YouTube: by channel browsing like a boomer with cable TV. This artistic thought comes from London-based developer Steven Irby, who has simply launched an internet app known as Channel Surfer, which presents attention-grabbing YouTube movies in an interface resembling a retro-looking TV information.
Within the app, you may flick thru completely different, topic-focused channels and click on to tune in as when you have been watching reside TV.
At launch, there are 40 of those custom-built “channels” to select from, together with these targeted on normal matters like information, politics, sports activities, and life-style content material, in addition to a number of music channels and others with a extra tech focus.
The latter group consists of channels like “AI & ML,” “Code & Dev,” “Area,” “Retro Tech,” “Tech & Devices,” and “Gaming.”
As you progress between channels, you be part of the video being performed mid-stream. In the meantime, the information informs you of the upcoming content material on all of the channels and what time of day it should play. You too can scroll forward to have a look at programming deliberate for the subsequent 24 hours.
This makes watching YouTube really feel lots like watching old-school reside tv — an expertise that’s confirmed widespread on free streaming companies like Plex, Pluto TV, Tubi, and others, which supply lineups of reside channels taking part in TV reveals and flicks. YouTube itself, in the meantime, dominates TV streaming within the U.S.
Plus, a small counter on the backside of the display tracks what number of different individuals are at present watching YouTube with you.
Irby says he got here up with the thought to construct the same expertise on the streamers, however for YouTube movies, as a result of discovering one thing to observe can nonetheless be a battle.
“I constructed Channel Surfer as a result of I’m uninterested in the algorithms and indecision fatigue,” Irby informed TechCrunch. “I miss channel browsing and never having to resolve what to observe. I wish to simply sit and tune into what’s on and never take into consideration what to observe subsequent.”
“My boomer Mother watches cable TV. I would like the identical, however with my YouTube channels as an alternative. Additionally, it’s weirdly comforting to know I’m watching with different folks,” he stated.
The venture is one in all many new experiments from Irby, a 40-year-old tech business veteran who has spent the previous decade-plus touring the world.
“I’ve a lot creativity from my lengthy, bizarre journey. I can’t bear the considered being a Jira ticket monkey anymore,” he stated.
The app appears to be successful, with Irby noting that Channel Surfer’s brand-new website noticed greater than 10,000 views on its first day.
Underneath the hood, Channel Surfer is, for now, a static Next.js website that makes use of PartyKit and is hosted on Cloudflare. The channels and music it affords are from Ibry’s personal hand-picked checklist. GitHub Actions is used to run a script that refreshes the info day by day. There’s no again finish but.
And whereas Claude assisted within the coding course of, the location is just not “vibe-coded,” Irby says.
The channels themselves are primarily taking part in YouTube embeds, together with YouTube’s adverts, so the app shouldn’t be violating coverage. Finally, Irby says he’d like to carry the app to TV platforms, like Fireplace TV, Google TV, and others. (It additionally runs on cell gadgets and tablets, however wants extra work.)
At launch, Channel Surfer is a free service providing entry to 175 YouTube channels and 25 music playlists. However when you subscribe to Irby’s newsletter, you’re given the choice to import your personal YouTube subscriptions into the app.
It’s a quick-and-dirty course of to take action: You drag a “Channel Surfer” bookmarklet to your bookmarks bar, then open your YouTube subscriptions, and click on the bookmarklet. The method begins, directing you again to the app the place you paste the copied JSON textual content right into a field and click on an “import” button. This provides your personal channels to Channel Surfer’s present lineup, probably providing you with lots of extra channels to observe on this format.
The positioning’s existence harkens again to the online’s earlier days, crammed with enjoyable experiments and creativity. For Irby, that’s the purpose.
“I’m obsessive about displaying the world that the previous internet remains to be alive and nicely,” he says. “It’s simply buried underneath a mountain of slop.”
