If we gathered all the videos contained in Youtube’s servers, we would have enough to fill up the Grand Canyon. This is just a figure of speech to accentuate the fact that Youtube’s infinite video directory is beyond a single man’s reach. Luckily, all the videos are very well indexed by the Youtube engine, and its API enables developers to leverage this technology to create specific products. If you are a video marketer, a developer exploring Youtube’s possibilities, or simply a Youtuber looking for new experiences, here is a list of the top 10 apps developed on top of the Youtube API that brings fresh ideas to the mind.
Captiontube
Captiontube is the must-use application to add captions to your videos. Sign in with your Google Account, import your videos, and enjoy the smooth video dashboard that lets you easily transcribe your audio into text. Grab the output file, and upload it on to Youtube. On the list of services that helps you create subtitles for Youtube, Captiontube definitely sits on top.
Atten.me
Atten.me is an interesting concept where video thumbnails are laid out on a page, each with a size that (I think) represent their popularity. The viewing experience gets good when you click in the background of a video page. Really smooth! Unfortunately, there are a lot of bugs with the embeds.
Youtube Fast Search
This application is the most innovative when it comes to searching videos on Youtube. On the left side, there is a search box, and thumbnails of video results. You can drag/drop thumbnail into top-right side video player to watch the video. While watching the video, you can make a new search without reloading the page or the video playing. You can easily widescreen-view videos by clicking on it. And finally you can drag/drop the videos in the bottom-right side playlist. Unfortunately, dropping videos in the playlist is the only thing you can do with it: You cannot save your selection and import it to Youtube for example (at least not yet).
TubeGraph
In the totally offbeat category, we have TubeGraph, a site that asks you to measure your level of interest for the video as it is playing. I think it could be a valuable tool for small video creators who wish to evaluate the impact of their creations with peers online. Here is me watching a 45-second clip of the Simpsons in Spanish:
Youtube Battles
Youtube Battles is a masterpiece in terms of embeds integration in a dynamic design. The service simply serves you two videos, and you vote for the one you prefer. I don’t see the purpose of this, but it is yet another way to discover good Youtube vids.
TubeSpoke
For all of you iPhone owners out there, TubeSpoke sounds like the ultimate app to manage your Youtube account on the go: TubeSpoke lets you manage your YouTube account by tracking the new videos added to your subscriptions and letting you subscribe to users, channels or query tags. It lets you create or remove your subscriptions on the fly and it also manage your playlists by letting you create and remove your playlists. Watch all the new videos you are interested in and archive them by adding them to a local favorite list, your youtube favorites playlist or any of the playlist available in your account. Track your subscriptions and keep your favorite videos organized in your youtube account. This is the first time I wish I had an iPhone!
YearLongMarathon
From the creator: “With so many years of video on YouTube, I decided to put together a one year marathon of back-to-back Youtube videos. YLM is the result of this ridiculous idea.” Well, it seems from the blog that the marathon lasted 5 days before abandon, the video player is not working anymore, but you have to give the man credit for being creative.
Totlol
Parents, you thought that Youtube was a place for adults. Well, apply a few filters to the experience, and you get Totlol, the place for your kids to watch Youtube-powered videos. Totlol is powered by its users who submit the Youtube videos themselves to the community, and give it the appropriate age attribution. Parents can create an account, turn on parental control, and let their kids browse through the playlists of videos. You can also submit videos from your own Youtube channel, a little hint for video creators targeting kids.
Youtube Doubler
The Youtube Doubler simply lets you place two videos side-by-side, and watch them at the same time. The creator of the Youtube Doubler also created the HDADD viewing experience, which I find awesome! Half a year ago, I got really inspired by the Doubler, and tried to create my own wide-screen video player by following Youtube Doubler’s model. A warning for all developers: it is impossible to perfectly synchronize two Youtube videos!
TubeMogul
Undeniably, TubeMogul is the API king of all video platforms, Youtube included. This service lets you upload a video once to their server, and they do the job of uploading it to all the different video platforms of your choice. Additionally, it retrieves valuable traffic data like views, comments, ratings. They even launched a marketplace for video creators and advertisers to connect.
You will notice that I haven’t included all applications that let you: 1. Watch Youtube videos on your desktop; 2. Upload videos; 3. Transform documents into videos, simply because there are too many of them, and what they offer is blah in terms of video discovery.
Below is a secret document that gives you all the specs about the Youtube API, in case you want to create your own Youtube application. Remember to send me a link when you’re done!