Youtubeplay review

Youtubeplay is a superb piece of software created by the community over at XDA Developers. The software has been around for a small amount of time but has not received the attention it so easily deserves.

Anyone jealous of the Diamond’s ability to playback Youtube’s finest need look no further. Self contained in the one Cab file this is essential an all-in-one solution to viewing Youtube videos and downloading Flv files that are playable in a few mobile media players, like TCPMP.

Having installed the program there is very little to configure, in fact the only options are for personal preference. The software will win no awards for presentation but the application has everything you need in the right place. You simply type in what you are looking for and the app searches Youtube. You can configure how many results it returns as oppose to having an endless list as with Youtube itself. I believe this is be a more appropriate method as it encourages more detailed searching by keywords.

There is also a list of ‘Feeds’  containing random viewing if you are bored. Top rated, most viewed, most linked and several other pre-defined searches popular this menu. If you are onto something and want to see more similar video content you can click ‘Related’ and you are presented with other videos that may be of interest.

When playing a video you can save it to your device very easily. Download speeds obviously vary on connection and your operator and from what I can see there is no interruption from the application. You can continue to search whilst a video is downloading, however, you can only download one video at a time.

Options wise there are only a few to note. I found the option to associate FLV files with Youtubeplay did not work and it generated a blank error. So, I had to resort to TCPMP to playback anything I had downloaded.

My only gripes, and they are the tiniest of gripes is that it does not save a search history, or allow you to make your own feeds. Using Youtube frequently I miss some of the features embedded that I take for granted daily. Youtube’s playback quality is sometimes pretty rough but a mobile’s screen lends it self to enhance the experience. Youtube is one of the most entertaining websites to have access to on the fly. Having the ability to save and playback in the same client easily makes this a priority shortcut on my Start menu. Coupled with the fact that it is free makes this a MUST download for anyone wanting to kill some time.