PipTube - A YouTube Leanback plugin for Windows Media Center

[pipplo]

I posted this on the MSFT site too. Hopefully nobody minds the cross post?

PipTube

This is a very simple plugin that lets you access YouTube leanback from within MediaCenter. It pretty much just opens youtube.com/leanback in a media center browser window.

I made this plugin because I wanted to be able to access my own YouTube playlists from media center so that I could save videos on my pc or phone and watch them later on my TV.

The leanback interface is easily navigated with the up, down, left, and right buttons. Ok can be used to make selections or play/pause a movie.

Download

https://github.com/downloads/pipplo/Pip ... eSetup.msi

Known Issues

• Certain media center buttons like 'Back' are linked to keyboard shortcuts. Pressing Back on your remote will exit the plugin, NOT go back in leanback.
  
  You can use the keyboard to search, but since 'Backspace' is used by Media Center to go back a menu you can't really use Backspace whiel in leanback. I hope to fix this
  
  There is some problem on MediaCenter 64 bit where Leanback will only work properly once. If the flash plugin is cached then you will get an error message. To workaround this the plugin will look for a watch_as3*.swf file in the temporary internet files directory and delete it.

Thanks to EddyC for the tip on deleting that .swf file!

Installation

• Download PipTubeSetup.msi
  Run the installer
  Open Media Center and Navigate to Extras Library
  Run PipTube
  You may see some dialogs from Media Center. Answer those
  If leanback does not work you may need to install the latest version of flash. Open IE and install flash then try again.
  At this point you should see YouTube leanback. Logging in after this is optional

Logging In

• Select the login option
  Use a keyboard to fill in your login details
  After logging in you may see an error message. If you do exit PipTube then re-run PipTube. This error is because of the issue with the flash file
  You should now be able to access your own playlists

I've also made this plugin open source so if anyone wants to modify it it feel free

http://github.com/pipplo/PipTube

[guppy]

I posted this on the MSFT site too. Hopefully nobody minds the cross post?

PipTube



https://github.com/downloads/pipplo/Pip ... eSetup.msi


Installation

• Download PipTubeSetup.msi
  Run the installer
  Open Media Center and Navigate to Extras Library
  Run PipTube
  You may see some dialogs from Media Center. Answer those
  If leanback does not work you may need to install the latest version of flash. Open IE and install flash then try again.
  At this point you should see YouTube leanback. Logging in after this is optional

I am runngin win7 32 bit. It installed fine, but when I try to run the program it pops up something wanting me to update flash player. Instead of clicking on the link to automatically install flash player (I never install known software from unknown sources) I checked to see what version I have. Clicking this link will show me that I have the latest version (10.3.181.26). I even rebooted my system and I still get the prompt to download the latest flash player.

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/155/tn_15507.html

Is this any different than MacroTube?

[eddyc]

This is a very simple plugin that lets you access YouTube leanback from within MediaCenter.

Just gave it a try and it worked fine for me first time - nice job!

The backspace issue is kind of a pain, but not easily addressed in a HTML plug-in. A work-around if you're using search, though, is to use CTRL-A to select all text, which Leanback does recognize, and then just type the new search query. You can press DEL instead to delete the selected text first, if you prefer. (Yes, you need a keyboard to do this, but then, you need a keyboard to type a search in the first place...)

Pressing CLEAR on the remote control will cancel any current search query and return you to the browse interface.

If you happen to have a remote keyboard with a single PLAY/PAUSE button (rather than separate PLAY and PAUSE buttons) then that will probably work to control YouTube from the plug-in as well, instead of having to use OK to call up the controls menu.

There is some problem on MediaCenter 64-bit where Leanback will only work properly once

I found this occurred sometimes on 32-bit systems as well (in my own testing, not with PipTube). If you're only seeing it on 64-bit systems, that's good to know!

Eddy

[pipplo]

I posted this on the MSFT site too. Hopefully nobody minds the cross post?

PipTube



https://github.com/downloads/pipplo/Pip ... eSetup.msi


Installation

• Download PipTubeSetup.msi
  Run the installer
  Open Media Center and Navigate to Extras Library
  Run PipTube
  You may see some dialogs from Media Center. Answer those
  If leanback does not work you may need to install the latest version of flash. Open IE and install flash then try again.
  At this point you should see YouTube leanback. Logging in after this is optional

I am runngin win7 32 bit. It installed fine, but when I try to run the program it pops up something wanting me to update flash player. Instead of clicking on the link to automatically install flash player (I never install known software from unknown sources) I checked to see what version I have. Clicking this link will show me that I have the latest version (10.3.181.26). I even rebooted my system and I still get the prompt to download the latest flash player.

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/155/tn_15507.html

Is this any different than MacroTube?

Make sure you install the flash plugin from IE and not Chrome or Firefox. I get the same version number as you when running Chrome. If I check in IE I get the version 10.0.2.54.

This is different than MacroTube. MacroTube is a Windows Media Center application that fits in more with MCE. PipTube just opens up Youtube.com/leanback from within MCE. It's just a quick plugin to open youtube.com/leanback without having to minimize MCE.

I find that I like MacroTube more for searching for random videos. You can't login using MacroTube and access your own playlists.

I use the PipTube plugin to watch videos that I've saved or favorited under my Youtube account. Generally if I'm at work or using my tablet and come across a video I add it to my 'Watch Later' playlist and then open it up in MCE when I get home.