[spindritf]

I just download youtube videos[1]. It has many advantages over youtube.com. Hardware acceleration is one but also no stalling when skipping ahead, no disappearing videos that you planned to watch later, no need to sign in.

Actually, youtube as a repository of material for download works much better than youtube as a streaming site.

[1] http://rg3.github.io/youtube-dl/

[onosendai]

I second this. I've been using youtube-dl for years and it's essential for viewing video content on your terms.

A little know fact that no one seems to mention about this tool is that, the name notwithstanding, it also supports many other sites besides Youtube (use --list-extractors for a full list, currently 108!)

[arprocter]

I also found newer versions have a --buffer-size option which allows you to set a huge buffer and download at a much higher speed

[x0054]

On OSX I highly recommend YouView[1]. It streams H.264, and CPU usage during playback is 1/3 of what the browser player uses. I guess it really inconsequential unless you are on a laptop. On a laptop it's a difference in 1-1.5 hours of battery life.

[1] https://mrgeckosmedia.com/applications/info/YouView

[rcthompson]

I used YouView for a while, but I switched to Mactubes because YouView doesn't have Retina support. But I much prefer YouView's interface, and I would switch back in a moment if they released a Retina-enabled version.

[x0054]

I have a rMBP as well. You can use a little program called Retinizer[1] to convert YouView to retina compatible app. Retinizer works on almost any cocoa app, I have tried it on a bunch. All it does is set a flag in the info.plist file that tells OSX that the app is HiDPI compatible, the OS does the rest. You should also get Maximizer[2] to add full screen app option for it.

[1] http://retinizer.mikelpr.com/ [2] http://chpwn.com/apps/maximizer.html

[rcthompson]

Retinizer is nice, but it only "retinizes" the UI controls in YouView, not the actual video view, which is the part that matters.

[x0054]

Ha! You are right. I usually watch videos in 720p, because my connection isn't all that great to YouTube servers, so I never noticed. Just tried it with a 1080p clip, and sure enough, the content isn't running in retina resolution. I guess if I haven't noticed after this long, I am not switching, but good catch.

[jsilence]

Awesome! Thank you for this hint!

[Crito]

I do the same. The one disadvantage is you lose the ability to click on overlayed links to related videos that some people often put at the end of their videos.

[erichurkman]

I could argue that being a benefit -- the overlays and other annoyances during the video playback go away, too. So do the YouTube comments.

[Crito]

I'd say it depends entirely on the video/channel. For instance, on Brady Haran channels (Periodic Videos, Sixy Symbols, Numberphile, etc) the overlays are very useful as they link to videos about tangentially related topics, followup videos on the same topic, or even other videos on the same topic featuring a different professor explaining things a different way.

[saurabh]

I use SMTube[1] for that.

http://smplayer.sourceforge.net/en/smtube

[voltagex_]

The only issue I have with youtube-dl is that there's nothing stopping Google from playing hardball and blocking youtube-dl completely.

That said, I'd love a Firefox plugin that dumps the YT url directly to youtube-dl.

[panzi]

This userscript downloads the video via the browser. I guess YouTube shouldn't be able to tell if the user downloads the video or views it with the html5 player. The script can be used with Firefox (Greasemonkey) and Chrome. http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/98782 Please only use it to download videos that are under a free license or otherwise allow downloads. ;)

[anom987]

And no ads!