TVee2 – Or: how I learned to stop watching YouTube and love the TV

I started this app, TVee2, really more as a criticism of youtube. Despite having more content than anything in the world, as I'm viewing youtube I get this claustrophobia, this tunnel vision that I can't shake, this feeling that the other content on the platform is hardly reachable and I would have to spend, what feels like, a lifetime getting my preferences and tastes programmed in to be just passable in terms of watch-ability. I think part of this stems from the architecture of a video on demand service and the way youtube has evolved. The channels have been more about the creation of videos than the curation of content and the ease of viewing has centered around a keyboard and mouse instead of people's hands like TV might.

Anyways, so here's TVee2. It functions as a means of presenting Youtube in a more mindless, uninvested and non-engaged format: as a TV incarnation that "broadcasts" internet content and allows more familiar channel surfing. Currently there are 50 channels and they mirror recent content from news, fashion, sports to animated history and DIY. Like a more traditional TV, you cannot pause, seek or adjust volume beyond setting the volume of the device. A channel changer allows you to "flick" between channels and each channel is numbered so one can go directly to channel from an input form. A web sockets chat is also available.

See for yourself at https://www.tvee2.com

Right now the platform isn't really scaled for heavy use most likely, but would love for people to try it out and let me know what you think. Currently, for me it's pretty entertaining watching from the side or listening as I'm doing something else, be it eating a bowl of cereal or exercising on a stationary bike.

As for legality of such a concept, this has, for the most part, been a fun quarantine side project and was created without thinking of content rights and youtube's terms of service. Thanks.