Get your YouTube experience organized with VideoHunters
VideoHunters is a very clever iPad app that allows you a good deal of control over how you use YouTube. Of course, YouTube has good search functionality, and at first glance, this app doesn't seem to add much, but VideoHunters goes far deeper and allows you to customize your search, as well as easily share videos with friends.
More compelling, VideoHunters adds a concept of themes to using YouTube. It comes with more than a hundred themes already installed, and you can modify them or create your own. Some example themes include searches, like science and technology, from today that are popular. There are themes for comedy, politics, autos, you name it. The list can be sorted by you, and themes you don't want can be deleted. You also get the usual standbys, like top rated and featured videos. Once a video is playing you can stream via AirPlay. You can save a video to favorites, or share it with friends. Themes can also be sent to other VideoHunters users.
I was easily able to create themes to find some classic old TV shows and some videos on places I plan to travel to this year. YouTube is full of great Photoshop tutorials, so I created a theme for those. Since the themes can be saved, when I started up VideoHunters again, everything was where I left it. The app also contains video tutorials to help you navigate the formidable feature set.
I found using the app mostly intuitive, but I had to watch the tutorials to figure out some of the functionality. Two of the app features, a place to save what's called 'My Videos' and 'My Favorites,' require that you establish a free account. I tested version 1.3, which experienced a few crashes. Yesterday the app was updated to 1.4 and, so far, has been quite stable.
If you are a YouTube zealot, this is one of the best ways I've seen to explore and customize your searches. The videos are crisp on the iPad, and the ability to use AirPlay is a plus. For many, this app will be well worth the US$0.99 price. Check the galleries for some screen shots, and as always, your comments are valued.
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