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There’s an exciting new way to watch YouTube: on a streaming channel like a cable TV. This design concept comes from a London-based developer Steven Irbywho has just launched an online program called Channel Surferwhich offers interesting YouTube videos in a format similar to a virtual TV guide.
In the app, you can browse different channels, which look for titles and click to play as if you were watching TV.
At launch, there are 40 of these customizable “videos” to choose from, including ones that focus on general topics like news, politics, sports, and lifestyle, as well as a few music and technology-focused ones.
The latter category includes channels such as “AI & ML,” “Code & Dev,” “Space,” “Retro Tech,” “Tech & Gadgets,” and “Gaming.”
When you move between channels, you join the video that is playing in the middle. Meanwhile, the guide lets you know what’s coming up on all the tracks and what time of day it will be playing. You can also go ahead to see what programs are scheduled for the next 24 hours.
This makes watching YouTube more like watching old-fashioned television – a proven popular feature of free streaming games such as Plex, Pluto TV, Tubi, and others, which offer playlists of streaming TV shows and movies. Only YouTube, for now, manages television shows in the US.
In addition, a small counter at the bottom of the screen keeps track of how many other people are watching YouTube with you.
Irby says he came up with the idea of ​​creating a streaming experience, but on YouTube videos, because finding content to watch can be difficult.
“I created Channel Surfer because I’m tired of algorithms and intellectual fatigue,” Irby told TechCrunch. “I miss playing on the channel and not having to choose what to watch.
He said: “My mother watches TV.”
The project is one of the latest ventures from Irby, a 40-year-old technology expert who has spent the past decade traveling the world.
“I have a lot of creativity from my long, amazing journey. I can’t stand the thought of being a Jira monkey anymore,” he said.
The program seems to be a hit, with Irby awareness that Channel Surfer’s new website it saw over 10,000 views on its first day.
Under the hood, the Channel Surfer is, for the time being, stable Next.js the page that uses it PartyKit and it is managed Cloudflare. The videos and music they offer come from a list hand-picked by Ibry. GitHub action used to run a script that refreshes the data daily. There is no end behind.
And time Claude assisted in the writing of the articles, the site is not “vibe-coded,” says Irby.
The videos are playing YouTube aggregates, including YouTube ads, so the app shouldn’t violate the policy. Ultimately, Irby says he would like to bring the app to TV platforms, such as Fire TV, Google TV, and others. (It also works on mobile devices and tablets, but needs more work.)
At launch, Channel Surfer is a free service that provides access to 175 YouTube channels and 25 playlists. But if you subscribe to Irby’s letteryou are given the option to enter your YouTube subscription in the app.
There’s a quick and dirty way to do this: You drag the “Channel Surfer” icon to the bookmarks bar, then open your YouTube subscription, and click the tab. The process starts, directing you to the program where you put the JSON text in the box and click the “import” button. This adds your channels to Channel Surfer’s existing list, giving you hundreds of channels to watch this way.
The site’s existence dates back to the early days of the Internet, full of interesting and creative experiments. For Irby, that’s the point.
He said: “I really like to show the world that the old website is still there. It’s just buried under a mountain of slop.”
