Monday, August 16, 2010

MiTube: A YouTube Video Downloader App

The good news about the MiTube app is that it solves a legitimate problem by letting you to quickly and easily download YouTube videos for later viewing, like when you're not connected to the web.  The bad news?  MiTube is no longer available in the app store.

I was one of the fortunate ones who managed to download MiTube before it was yanked.  Although I haven't had too many reasons to use it yet, when I have it was nice to know it was there.  You simply search for the video you want to download, decide whether you want a hi- or low-res file and the retrieval process begins.

The fact that this one is already unavailable reminds me of a habit of mine that I recommend for all iPad owners: Look at what's new in the App Store each and every day.  MiTube caught my attention so I downloaded it the day it came out, and I'm glad I did.  Even though there are now 20,000+ iPad apps in the Store, it's very easy to quickly look at what was added today: In the App Store app just go to the Featured area and select the Release Date tab.  All of the day's additions appear there in alphabetical order.  Keep paging through till you reach one with yesterday's date and you'll know when to stop.  I do this every night and it takes less than 5 minutes.

4 comments:

  1. And, what will happen when you sync? Is there a way for Apple to remove the app from your device?

    ReplyDelete
  2. That thought crossed my mind as well! I worry about one of those "1984 moments" that happened on the Kindle awhile back. I'm pleased to report that I've sync'd my iPad several times since the app was taken out of the store and it has remained untouched. Kudos to Apple for not removing content without asking first!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Any idea what the rationale was for removing it?
    ~jon

    ReplyDelete
  4. I figure Google/YouTube raised a stink, saying they want the traffic on their site and not allowing a method to view offline. After all, if Google/YouTube wanted to foster an offline viewing option they'd probably just offer it themselves. That's just me guessing though...

    ReplyDelete