Surfing YouTube with Class
I don't have time these days to enjoy much procrastination, but when I do, I've been spending increasingly more of my time at YouTube. If you haven't checked it out at this point, YouTube is basically the Flickr for home movies and has rapidly become one of the most popular websites on the internet. (#10 now, according to Alexa. Talk about a stratospheric climb in popularity.)
So how'd they do it? Well, as any YouTuber will tell you, there's a lot of crap out there, and you have to wade through it. But with hundreds of thousands of videos out there, there's also a lot of quality stuff. Some really funny home videos, clips from TV shows like the Colbert Report, animated shorts, etc. And a lot of the fun in the YouTube experience is actually wading through all the crap to find the gems.
The not-so-fun part is the YouTube interface, which admittedly does the job, but in a very spartan way. I wish I could browse YouTube with the same ease and visual luxury that I browse music on iTunes Music Store, ya know?
Enter InnerTube, the new YouTube client that my friend Steve Streza has been working on for the past few weeks.
Pretty, huh? While it's currently still in alpha, and pretty feature-light at this stage, InnerTube's shaping up into something pretty cool. You can already see the level of polish getting built into the app, with iTunes style reflective movie thumbs, a very friendly and standard Aqua UI, and a simplistic and spare approach for what information to display. Remember, this is YouTube we're talking about. Reflected video thumbs? Drag and drop support for favorites? Tasty Aqua icons by designer Cyril Seillet? Class?!
Also perhaps just as cool, InnerTube will include seamless support for exporting YouTube videos into an iPod compatible video. Right now it's a pretty complicated and time-consuming process ripping movies onto your iPod, and as a result, I'm pretty sure 90% of the videos loaded out there onto Video iPods are those purchased from iTunes Music Store for $1.99. Great for Apple, but not necessarily for the consumer. Now, you'll have the wealth of YouTube's vast archives ready for your iPod with one click. Snazzy.
Steve's also currently working on getting the videos playing within InnerTube without YouTube's decidedly unstandard Flash controls. You can see it playing here with controls unmodified, but by the time 1.0's out, there should be standard, beautiful Aqua controls:
Fellow YouTube addicts, look for InnerTube coming soon. I'll keep you guys posted as the app progresses. You saw it here first. 
Comments
Up until this point, there have been 56 responses to “Surfing YouTube with Class”:
Wth! You post this enticing preview but offer no alpha download link?! Hey, seriously though, drop me that download link on the low low Looks good so far.
How odd that I see this now as I am considering to purchase TubeSock, and now that has stopped me seeing that this app has that function PLUS MORE!!! YIPPERS!
Let's hope this app. is cheap tp buy!
I thought that Innertube was the name of CBS's online TV station.
I too was considering purchasing tubesock, but now, I too will be waiting (im)patiently for innertube! thanks for the heads up, phill! :]
Oh' my...that looks Delicious..yumm
too bad I don't have any mac 
Hi, I would love to beta test it !!! Just talked about such features for one hour on my cell this morning. Could it work with DailyMotion ? (39 in Alexa's ranking).
Am I glad that I have an iBook!! 
Looks really cool, indeed.
Looks great!
thats a copy cat of the XBMC Youtube Script
Great app indeed but you state that it is hard to convert video into your iPod 5th Gen. Not so.. I don't believe that 90% of iPod owners that have videos on it took it from the ITMS. They are a bunch of easy apps that convert videos into the right iPod format and that do it much more faster than Quicktime..
Try and have a look at: http://www.isquint.com/
Still Innertube is really cool
Looks real nice, just recently became quite addicted to Youtube.com, can't wait to check out an early version of this interface.
Damn that app is really something.
You guys see one screenshot and it's the most incredible app around.. haha.. Come on. To me the fun part of youtube is all the "other" videos you can get lost in. Will this offer us suggestions as to what to watch next ? What do we know about this app appart from the fact that it will look like iTunes !!!???
I have to laugh when I read "Damn that app is really something" !!!
I mean come on WOW Aqua buttons.. yeah that'll make me buy an app for sure. I really had a problem with that play button.
Lets wait and see if it changes anything...
(I've been on a mac since before some of you were walking but I have to admit that sometimes you macboys are very funny)
sounds good hope there's a windows version for the 97% of of us who don't use Macs
For everyone who was going to buy TubeSock, try PodTube instead. It's free, and does the same thing.
As for this app, it looks intriguing, especially if it could do more than youtube. Maybe if it could be a separate app for organizing videos like iTunes does for music. iTunes sucks at handling video, and nothing else I have found has a decent interface.
[...] permalink Demnaechst wird ein OS X YouTube Client veroeffentlich der es ermoeglicht YouTube mit Stil zu durchsuchen (plus ein paar extra Features). Vom Interface aehnelt es sehr iTunes, was ja nichts schlechtes ist. Klingt soweit interessant, mal sehen was die Software so kann, wenn es sie mal zum Download gibt. Eine Vorschau gibt es im Blog von Phill Ryu. __________________ Der Unterschied zwischen Macs und Niveau? Macs kann man kaufen. [...]
you've been Dugg!
why mac os x, most youtuber are on a windows machine.
As long as I don't have to deal with the absolutely worthless and ridiculous YouTube comments, anything is an improvement over YouTube as is!
Wow, that is fantastic! Tie it in with the Apple remote and I'll be able to waste hours, just like in front of the TV.
i have to agree with chezpaul for the time being. youtube is a SOCIAL website, and i hope you offer some social functionality in the app (favoriting, viewing profiles, viewing subscriptions).
looks great. im definitely looking forward to it
Wow. This looks great, can't wait for the beta. The iPod video convert is a handy feature, useful if you have a podcast with video clips like mine: http://appleclipsvideo.podshow.com
Is it possible with a plug-in to integrate this into FrontRow with the InnerTube logo. It will be like IPTV.
What's that? A challenger to TubeSock? Well, TubeSock will not back down!
Here's the big question: freeware or shareware?
InnerTube is the name of CBS' online video player. They're player and videos are super lame - you might want to avoid the association. There could also be some legal problems if your software gets big, you know how corporations are.
Can't wait for your product!
Umm.. this is basically exactly what Democracy player does, even the same interface.
It'd be great if Democracy Player (a great front-end for web videos) could play YouTube vids (flv). It's open source; if InnerTube is possible that should be.
Have you considered doing the same with Google video?
I've just recently become a YouTube addict, though I've been a user since Dec/Jan. I'd love to see this. Too bad I'm a lowly windows user (not the first time I've said that LOL).
Yeah, you really need to change the name. CBS has it copyrighed, for one. "©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved." from http://www.cbs.com/innertube/index.php
Plus as it's been said before, it's really lame, so you probably don't want the negative association.
can you add an option so it can play random videos one after the other?
[...] PhillRyu.com - Surfing YouTube with Class: YouTube is now activating the long-tail. God, did I just say that? [...]
[...] [ PhilRyu.com :: Surfing YouTube With Class ] [...]
What ? Where ?
For those looking for an iTunes equivalent there's iVideo Duh !!!
Works just like iTunes and quite well too.
You also have iDive which tries to do some of this and some of that and WOW even exports to your iPod.
Want more... Democracy
Seems like I write comment and they don't show up...
Or maybe they need to get approved ??
Try these other players...
iVideo (just like iTunes): http://www.waterfallsw.com/ivideo/
And iDive: http://www.aquafadas.com/redirection.html
And Democracy: http://www.getdemocracy.com/
Sounds like it could be a good, and useful program. I am curious to see it when it is ready.
*drools*
[...] Il nome sarà InnerTube e lo sviluppatore si chiama Steve Streza, ed è sponsorizzato da Phill Ryu. La rivolussionaria app è ancora in alpha e nemmeno si può provare. Ma per chi non riesce a fare a meno della televisione o di un suo surrogato anche sul Mac, sarà senz’altro una bella notizia [...]
>sounds good hope there's a windows version for the 97% of of us who don't use >Macs
no.
it's a totally native os X applications.
[...] Check out this preview of an upcoming OS X YouTube client. Slick iTunes and FrontRow inspired UI, drag and drop support, iPod exporting, the whole nine yards. Looks like my YouTube addiction will be made a lot more enjoyable!read more | digg story [...]
[...] In der Tradition des Democracy Players bzw. Fireants versucht die Mac Anwendung Innertube (problematischer Name, denn so heißt auch der Breitbandkanal von CBS) YouTube Videos in einem einheitlichen Interface darzustellen. Die Anwendung befindet sich momentan noch im Alpha Stadium und lässt sich noch nicht downloaden. Nach der Fertigstellung soll sie jedoch nicht nur ein neues Interface für YouTube bieten sondern auch die Filme direkt auf den iPod exportieren. [...]
[...] Check out this preview of an upcoming OS X YouTube client. Slick iTunes and FrontRow inspired UI, drag and drop support, iPod exporting, the whole nine yards. Looks like my YouTube addiction will be made a lot more enjoyable!read more | digg story [...]
Hey when this thing goes into beta you'll let us know here, right so some of us can start testing?!
Check out this video that sums up YouTube:
http://shedwa.blogspot.com/2006/08/i-love-youtube.html
[...] Check out this preview of an upcoming OS X YouTube client. Slick iTunes and FrontRow inspired UI, drag and drop support, iPod exporting, the whole nine yards. Looks like my YouTube addiction will be made a lot more enjoyable!read more | digg story [...]
very very nice.
will it have the same export-possibilites as tubesock?
psp, ipod, computer, audio and one more i think?
Very cool idea! I was wondering how you came up with the name? Innertube sounds a bit ackward.. I would've called it 'MyTube'.
Have a look at LePlayer you can enjoy YouTube video whilst you go on with your work.
When will it come out??!! I want InnerTube now!
Have a look at iTubes!
Another alternative that is platform independent:
[...] A little over two months ago, I previewed an upcoming YouTube client by my friend Steve Streza. The app is still upcoming, but it's a lot closer to release, and taking a cue from some mutual friends, Steve is taking preorders for his app, now renamed Tubular. (CBS threatened suit for InnerTube.) [...]
[...] Tubular used to be called “InnerTube”. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can check out a previous preview we did about 2 months ago, where we initially launched. Leave a Comment [...]
[...] Via Phillryu [...]
Hey guys,
I have an iMac G5 running tiger 10.4.7 and I an having a wierd problem. Whenever I go to a site that has an embedded youtube, flash or some kind of video, there is no sound. If it a quicktime file there is no problem. There is not sound no matter what broswer I use, firefox, camino, safari, or shiira. And keep in mind that about a week ago I was not having this issue.
Help Would be awesome
Thanks!
Tom Pacyk
August 25th, 2006 at 10:54amI'm no YouTube addict, but I think I'd use it more if I had this app to play with. Can't wait to see the finished version.