With FocusStream, just enter your topic and get only the relevant YouTube videos—no unrelated suggestions or autoplay.
It’s free, minimal. Would love your feedback!
Try it: https://focusstream.media Demo video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fCvOJ6kRs9jn7O_hIGgP6wBuq4f...
Also, the landing page starts with a signup :)
1. The downside is that you also lose your YouTube Music history.
I click on "show fewer shorts" on the homepage, refresh the page, and still see shorts in the second row. Sometimes I do that 10x in a row to no effect.
I deleted my YouTube history just this week, but my homepage is full of music mixes that start with a song I definitely listened to that are supposedly "deleted" from my history. I would think if I start from a supposedly blank slate that I would at least have to "teach it" that I'm not interested in pop songs that are popular in my corner of the world once again, but no.
My homepage may as well not exist, as YouTube insists of filling it up with like 2-3 niches that I am interested in, but don't want to watch all the time. Nothing new resurfaces there except when one of the people I'm subscribed to happens to make an appearance on someone else's channel.
Scroll to the bottom of the homepage in desperation and instead of showing something new it shows like 3 rows of exactly one channel.
The video recommendations on the side often have nothing to do with the video I'm watching. Listening to music? Here's a political debate. Watching something educational? Here's nothing but two video games.
The "new to you" button isn't at all "new to me", it's "things I've watched but didn't care about it enough to subscribe to".
It's truly fascinating how much I have to fight the product to find something even remotely interesting to watch that's not in my subscription feed.
!2024-03-07 Hide Shorts - HN
youtube.com##ytd-rich-section-renderer:has(#rich-shelf-header:has-text(Shorts))
youtube.com##ytd-reel-shelf-renderer:has(.ytd-reel-shelf-renderer:has-text(Shorts))
I'd suggest using YT not logged in and within a container. The "personalization" - as you mention - doesn't add much and really just increases your value to YT.
Consider clearing out session cookies, I am under the impression that your recommended videos are also using that as a source.
1. Your base page doesn't describe what topics can or would be available. What are we trying to learn here? Languages? Science? How to be a better YouTuber? 2. You have a demo video. I haven't watched it. Why? Because I HATE having to watch videos if I could read a description instead. I read at least 10x faster than I can watch anything. That applies to learning as well, but some topics do work better in a visual medium. 3. You say its free but requiring me to sign up. To me that's not free. Maybe its not needing my money, but you're still needing my information. 4. Offer sign up/sign in with other identity providers.
TL;DR - Spend some time describing your product to someone who doesn't know need your product, not explaining it like I've tried other products and need shortcuts.
1. Yes, I'll be building a landing page to better place the problem we are trying to solve. 2. What do you suggest for this point? 3. I've received multiple feedbacks asking for a login-free access, so I am thinking around it. 4. Yes, for sure it's in my todo-list.
Understood your point about explanation.
I am usually against regulation, but in this case I think having YouTube Shorts next to educational content is like a school kiosk selling crack cocaine next to hot dogs.
What's the problem with people building tooling around it?
We shouldn't create regulations to deal with problems that are being solved by the market
Logout button doesn't redirect anywhere and I cannot log back in - too many requests.
Also remember me button doesn't change state onClick.
Let me check the `Remember Me` button.
You can still get your fix in quick enough to benefit from some of this traffic spike, go for it! Good luck.
A few features I like about it:
- Allows you to hide most engagement features like shorts, comments, related videos, etc
- Allows you to set a default playback speed and custom buttons to change playback speed with one click.
- Setting the default video size to "theater mode" (takes all the browser window above the fold, but without going full screen), so you don't see all that crap around the video you just clicked on
Also, I am seeking to connect with 3-4 people and get their feedback on how can I solve this problem better. If you're interested, you can email me on: ashwin.parihar@outlook.com
freetonik•4mo ago
The idea sounds interesting and attractive though.
Lauris100•4mo ago
pariharAshwin•4mo ago
Thanks for your feedback, will work on to allow login-free access for demo.
skeeter2020•4mo ago
thekuanysh•4mo ago
freetonik•4mo ago