Minitube, a YouTube Desktop Client for Linux: Do you want to watch YouTube videos in High-definition format without opening a web browser or without having the need to install Flash Player? If yes, then let me introduce you to a simple but capable YouTube desktop client called Minitube.
Minitube has an intuitive user-interface, which I should say is ideal to use on media center distros such as Mythdora and Mythbuntu, aside from using it on ordinary desktop Linux distributions of course. To start watching videos, simply type a keyword on the search box.
Most recent searches will also appear at the Minitube start-up screen
At the right side of the Minitube player, you can see the list of most relevant, most recent, and most viewed videos according to your search terms. At the top are the standard video player buttons (e.g. pause, stop, volume control, full-screen switch, etc.), and you can easily enable or disable high-definition mode by clicking on the small "HD" button found at the bottom.
A short description of the clip will appear before the video starts playing
Minitube in Compact ModeI've tried quite a few YouTube desktop clients before, and I was surprised at how good Minitube is when compared to them. The videos actually load fast or at times even faster than watching them directly on YouTube. Also, you don't have to worry about those pesky ads popping out while watching videos via Minitube.
I believe Minitube has all the right features to satisfy my needs but it still has plenty of room for improvements. It's good to know that Flavio Tordini, the developer of Minitube is still actively maintaining it. He is currently working on adding support for 1080p HD videos. Some people are hoping that a "video download" feature among others will be included in the future version of Minitube.
If you want to try Minitube, you can get it via the Software Center or Synaptic Package Manager if you are using Ubuntu. Packages for Gentoo, ArchLinux, OpenSUSE, Debian, and Slackware are also available. Linux 32bit binaries of Minitube can be downloaded HERE.
I believe Minitube has all the right features to satisfy my needs but it still has plenty of room for improvements. It's good to know that Flavio Tordini, the developer of Minitube is still actively maintaining it. He is currently working on adding support for 1080p HD videos. Some people are hoping that a "video download" feature among others will be included in the future version of Minitube.
If you want to try Minitube, you can get it via the Software Center or Synaptic Package Manager if you are using Ubuntu. Packages for Gentoo, ArchLinux, OpenSUSE, Debian, and Slackware are also available. Linux 32bit binaries of Minitube can be downloaded HERE.
Nice review! It tells me what I want to know and is interesting in general. There's just one thing I miss: a link to Minitube's homepage. I'd suggest making the first use of the word Minitube in the article such a link, as seems to be common practice. Saves me having to search for it :).
ReplyDeleteNot working with Ubuntu 10.4. (at this moment) No video
ReplyDeletesearch for phonon and gstreamer in synaptic and install that library and it will work..
ReplyDeleteWhy do the maintainers of that app not tag the libraries that are actually needed? This sucks. I just removed flash because of another 0day, and I got MANY libs which got phonon or gstreamer in their names.
ReplyDelete