Mac owners have fewer options to pick from – but that doesn’t mean we’re out of luck. There are several YouTube downloaders available that work as well or better than anything you would find on Windows.

ClipGrab

If you’re looking for one piece of software that can handle not just YouTube downloads, but also a number of other sites, ClipGrab is a good choice.

What I like about ClipGrab is the interface. Instead of asking you to enter a YouTube video’s link, you can search YouTube through the software to find relevant videos. This search function is quick and returns relevant content, though it is limited to four results – a handicap I’d like to see removed.

ClipGrab can also download via URL. The manager could not be easier to use and allows for a number of different download formats including MPEG4, WMV and OGG (among others).

Though the search function only works with YouTube, the software is capable of downloading from some other sites if you enter a video’s URL. Supported sites include Clipfish, Collegehumor, Dailymotion, MyVideo, MySpass, Sevenload, Tudou and Vimeo.

ClipGrab works with all recent versions of OS X.

Fastest Free YouTube Downloader

As the name implies, Fastest Free YouTube Downloader is built to be speedy. It is supposedly able to download videos at over 5MB/sec – if you have an Internet connection that can support it.

In my testing I was only able to achieve a maximum of 1.9MB/sec, which is among the quicker download speeds I’ve been able to achieve with my connection. Stopwatch tests showed that this software does download a three minute long 720p clip at least twenty seconds faster than the other programs here. So it appears there is some merit to the “fastest” label.

What you may like even more, however, is the direct interface and large number of video conversion options. You only need to enter a YouTube video link and hit Start Download – but before you do that, you can choose to save the video in one of over 40 formats.

Fastest YouTube Downloader works with OS X Snow Leopard and Lion.

4k Video Downloader

Another simple YouTube Downloader, 4k Video Downloader supports not only YouTube but also a number of other sites such as Vimeo and Dailymotion. You download videos simply by copying the URL from your browser and then clicking the “Paste URL” button in the software.

Nothing special, right? But 4k does offer something a bit unusual – the ability to download entire YouTube playlists. You can do this simply by pasting the URL of any video that is a part of a playlist. The software automatically detects it and will give you the option to download all related videos.

Conversion options are limited, but include the most popular options – FLV, MP4, MKV and MP3. You can choose video quality and format each time you download, or you can enable “smart mode” which applies the same options to all videos automatically, taking an extra step out of the process.

4k Video Downloader works with all recent versions of OS X.

Tubulator

This app calls itself “the YouTube browser.” Like ClipGrab, there is a search function included – but it’s far more robust, and allows for far more results to appear. And yes, it does work like a browser. You enter the term you’d like to search for in the search bar, and results appear. Tubulator doesn’t just give you results either – it actually gives you a fair amount of information including thumbnails, duration, quality and more.

When it comes time to download, you won’t find many format options. Video is converted to MP4, while audio-only downloads can be converted to MP3 or OGG. You can also select a preferred video quality.

Obviously, this isn’t the best choice if format choice is your primary concern. It is, however, a good choice if you want to browse videos rather than download a specific video you’ve already viewed.

Tubulator works with all recent versions of OS X.

Conclusion

Of the options here, I’ve used ClipGrab the most in the past. I like the interface and the conversion options are good enough for my needs.

I’m also partial to Fastest Free YouTube Downloader, however – and 4k Video Downloader’s ability to handle playlists is great, as well. Several of my favorite YouTube channels group similar videos by playlist, making 4k the best option for grabbing a lot of content at once.

I suggest giving all of these options a shot to discover which one works best for you.

If you’ve ever been to a website, watched a hilarious clip, and thought to yourself, “Wow, I wish I could keep that one forever. What if it gets deleted?”, you’re now looking at the correct article.

Downloading Flash Files Using Your Browser

Saikat wrote an awesome article nearly three years ago that still works like a charm. This method is still my favorite as it can be performed in every browser available. Although the method still works like a charm, exactly as it’s described in Saikat’s article, let’s go back over the process for Firefox.

Start by going to a page with a Flash video on it. YouTube is a good example. You can tell if a website is using Flash to power their video front-end by right clicking on the video itself and looking at the context menu. If Flash is mentioned, there you go.

After you’ve found your video, right click on the page (not the video) and select “View Page Info“.

Now, click the “Media” tab across the top. Scroll through the list until you find the content with the “Type” matching “Embed“. Click on it, and then “Save As…“. A download prompt will come up and you’ll be saving the SWF file right to your drive.

Using Offliberty

Offliberty is my best-kept secret when it comes to pulling video content off of the web. I’m not sure if it can get any more easier than this solution.

There are a lot of ad-filled websites that extract videos from YouTube for you. There’s also a lot of sticky, bad adware that you can download to get it done. With Offliberty, you just paste the URL and then wait for it to crunch some numbers, then download.

It’ll take a few seconds and then your results are in. You can actually rip the MP3 or the entire video from YouTube with this service, but for the sake of this article, let’s go with the video.

Offliberty supports a lot of the most popular video and music websites. Just plug a URL in and give it a shot, pretty good chance that it’ll be able to instantly convert and spit out what you’re looking for.

Just a little warning: Offliberty uses a script to randomize their page background. I refreshed anywhere between 10 and 15 times and one of the backgrounds was set to a very faint image of a male and a female, the female being topless. It was nothing explicit or hardcore and I’d classify it as “artsy,” but don’t use this at work. You shouldn’t be, anyway!

NetVideoHunter for Firefox

NetVideoHunter Video Downloader is one of my favorite Firefox add-ons. This page explains the usage of the add-on better than any, but let me give you a quick rundown.

Download and install the plugin. Restart Firefox. Go to any website that streams video. Start the video. Look at your Add-ons Bar for the NVH icon and click on it.

Here, you’ll see a list of every video that you’ve loaded this browser session. From this menu, you can watch the videos or download them. If using a site like YouTube where many formats are supported, every format should be available in the menu (as you can see it is in the screenshot). Can’t be much simpler than clicking “Download” and saving the video locally.

If these three are less than what you want, check out some of our other related posts:

• Capture Streaming Video From Any Website With These 5 Tools
• How To Download Videos From Hulu The Easy Way
• 4 Quick Ways To Download YouTube Videos Off The Net

What are your preferred ways of downloading videos off the web? Let us know in the comments below.

While Vimeo for iOS has been around for quite a while, Android users had to make do with a bunch of unofficial apps, while Windows Phone users had no solution to speak of. This all changed with this new release. With the official Vimeo app, you can now browse and watch videos on your device without logging into Vimeo. If you log in with your Vimeo account, you can also like videos, comment, share, edit and add videos, and more.

If you don’t already have an account, you can register with the service from within the app.

The app is very responsive and easy to use (at least the Android version of it), and the layout is simple yet intuitive.

On Windows Phone, the app received a more artsy look, which goes with the general Windows Phone feel, and seems to also be able to play HD videos.

The app also includes Vimeo’s upload manager, to pause and resume uploads without having to start all over again.

Have you had a chance to try the new Vimeo app?

Vimeo for Android [2.3+]
Vimeo for Windows Phone 7

Source: CNet

Netflix will roll out with some popular local favorites such as Top Gear, The Only Way is Essex, The Inbetweeners and Torchwood. They will also bring with them a massive library of movies, TV shows and documentaries. This roll-out could be exactly what Netflix needs to break out of their slump.

Streaming users in the UK will be looking at £5.99 per month. The UK will also feature a Facebook recommendation tie-in that has some users concerned that their viewing habits will be shared.

Users will be able to watch their streaming Netflix content on supported Blu-Ray players, their computers, certain televisions, smartphones and tablets. There will also be support for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii for users in these regions.

If you are in the UK and Ireland, you can sign up for a one month trial of Netflix to decide if it is right for you.

Source: Mashable

It’s a growing trend – news organizations providing Chrome “apps”, built on HTML5. The New York Times app lets you read content from that newspaper, while NPR’s app lets you read and listen to the news. It’s no wonder that Al Jazeera English, experiencing a growing viewer base from the strength of their coverage of the Arab Spring, wants to join them in catering to the millions of Chrome users out there.

Is this app worth checking out? I think so. It’s visually-oriented and simple to use, and presents a variety of news stories not covered by other news outlets. If you want to check out the news from a different perspective I highly recommend it.

Browsing The News

Fire up this app and you’ll be presented with the day’s top headlines. The visual style is similar to Flipboard and other iPad news applications. Note that you can browse by region, if you like, and that you can also bring up business or sports news.

You can click a story to read an article; sometimes you’ll also get access to a video. You can use the left and right button on your keyboard to turn the page on your current story.

Unlike the apps for NPR or The New York Times, you cannot use keyboard shortcuts to navigate from one story to another. This gets frustrating if you’re not a fan of switching from keyboard to mouse frequently, but the app still works quite well.

Video Options

Is there a particular show on Al Jazeera you like to watch on a regular basis? You can browse and watch shows here.

Different shows focus on different regions or subjects; be sure to explore here if you’re not familiar with the channel’s content. The shows are arranged alphabetically, and you can even subscribe to individual shows if you’d like. Doing so means you’ll see a Chrome Alert each time a new episode is ready for you to watch.

Perfer to see what’s happening right now? The app also offers a live stream of Al Jazeera, allowing you to watch the news as it happens.

Give this a chance. It might not become your primary news source, but watching news broadcast from other places can be fascinating and enlightening.

On Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera made a name for itself during the Arab spring, though what that name is depends on your perspective. If you’re an Arab dictator, Al Jazeera is an American/Western/Israeli conspiracy to discredit you and transfer the authority in your country to the imperialists. You’ll probably send some thugs to beat up their journalists, and blame them for starting the protests.

Protesters, naturally, see the journalists primarily responsible for showing their protests to the world in a different light than dictators. Sadly, to many Americans, Al Jazeera remains “that terrorist network,” an incredibly ironic way to describe an institution spreading the democratic ideal of independent media in a region traditionally resistant to it.

Do you like Al Jazeera’s new app? Are you more or less likely to get your news from them now that it exists? Let me know in the comments below. Or, if you prefer, make derogatory statements about Al Jazeera or myself. That’s a useful way to contribute to the discussion here too.

That Replay button sure took a beating and all because YouTube does not provide a natural, human-friendly way to loop a streaming video. The above two needs aside, I do like to loop a few videos myself…mostly when I am trying to learn something or a hummable song. So, I usually sit back – pick one of the ways described below – and put the videos in a continuous loop till I switch them off.

You can too. Just try them all once and then pick the one you like.

Endless YouTube

Endless YouTube allows you to set a YouTube to loop a specific number of times. Plus, with this service you can also loop a part of a YouTube video rather than the entire one. The easiest way to use the site is to alter the YouTube URL in the address bar. For e.g. if you’re watching the The Dark Knight trailer at “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx2rhzcIVxo” you can watch it endlessly at “http://www.endlessyoutube.com/watch?v= bx2rhzcIVxo “.

You can also go directly to the site and paste the video ID code in the box provided. You can set the part which you want to loop with the two time boxes. (See Directory mention)

Infinite Looper

You can use the handy bookmarklet or just copy-paste the YouTube video URL in the box provided. You can also use the blue slider to a point in the video to loop only that section. This web service is among the simplest to use.

PlayinUrTubez

PlayerTubez comes with a stylish interface. The site is ‘specialized’ for YouTube playlists. Of course, you can use it to play single videos too. You can enter a user’s name and get all his hosted videos as a playlist. The web app has quite a few controls like a feature to play the highest quality video first and to hide the unplayable videos from the playlist. All the remaining default features of YouTube are also available. You can search for videos from here and also connect to the video page on YouTube. (See Directory mention)

TubeReplay

Take a YouTube URL, paste it into the box and hit Replay. The video keeps on looping till you shut it off. You can also try the links to the two looping ideas given on the site which turn your monitor into a fireplace and an aquarium. (See Directory mention)

YouTube Repeater

The site looks a bit crowded, but you don’t have to visit the site to use its YouTube looping tool. You simply insert ‘repeater’ between ‘youtube’ and ‘.com’ then press Enter. Your video starts playing in a loop. You can also loop a portion of a video by fixing the start and end points. Launch the mini-player if you want the looping video to play in unobtrusively in the background.

Loop YouTube Videos with Chrome Extensions

SmartVideo for YouTube

The Chrome extension’s primary purpose is to improve YouTube play by controlling the way it is buffered. You can set your preferences so that the extension’s ‘smart buffer’ kicks in. One of the features included is that you can set videos to loop. This extension supports embedded HTML5 videos as well as YouTube videos.

YouTube Looper

This Chrome extension for YouTube adds a simple ‘Loop this’ button to on the YouTube toolbar. Click on the button to make the videos play continuously.

Loop YouTube Videos with Firefox Add-ons

YouTube Auto Replay

Hit the Replay button to loop the entire video or specify the time to watch a section of it in a continuous loop. This Firefox add-on helps you to loop a YouTube video without a hassle.

Do this web services, extensions, and add-ons seem like overkill for what is a simple task? Well, you could always use your mouse to replay the video again and again. But ask anyone who likes to watch an instructional video or a specific part of it again and again, and he will disagree. So, tell us if you can make use of these tools to loop YouTube videos. Which is your favorite YouTube trick?

This year, YouTube has reached one trillion views (that’s 1,000,000,000,000 playbacks), and they are now announcing the most watched videos of the year, most watched music videos, most viewed channels and more. On the Rewind site, you can view an interactive timeline of the entire year, with all the most popular videos for each month.

There were many viral videos this year, which one had the most views? Was it Nyan Cat? The talking dog? Was it a baby video? Or the usual cat flick? Watch this video to find out:

If a teaser is not enough, you can watch all the top 10 videos on this playlist. That is, if you haven’t watched them a hundred times already.

So what do you think of the list? Is there an awesome video that’s sorely missing?

Source: YouTube Blog

Now, who wouldn’t want to preserve these idea capsules for posterity! The online videos available on TED can of course be streamed via the browser, but if you are like me, then you would like to keep the more inspiring ones close by.

So, let’s see how we can download TED videos and carry them around for offline viewing.

The Easiest Way: Straight from the TED Site

The most straightforward way to download TED videos is to use the default Download button that’s positioned below each video. Just open up the video on its own page and click on the button to get a choice of video quality. You can also download it via iTunes. The video downloads as a MP4 file.

It sounds like an easy way, but then you realize that very few of the TED talks are mini-clips; most are around the 15 minute mark and that’s usually a 50 -80 MB file size. So, if you just have a single video to download, then definitely take this download option.

Download in Bulk: TED Downloader

TED Downloader (Version 2) is a neat little tool which helps you to download TED videos en mass. The 794 KB free software has a very simple interface. Installation is quick but you need to have Microsoft .NET version 4.0 pre-installed to make TED Talks Downloader run.

TED Talks Downloader enables you to select the videos you want to download from the site and filter it by the video quality (Low, Regular, and High). The quality you select will of course determine the time taken to download the videos. All you have to do is to select a download folder, click on Update Links, select the videos you want to download, and click on Get TED Talks.

The new version of the tool introduces a few key features that makes for a much improved downloading experience.

1. You can sort the downloads in progress by size (i.e. you can download the shorter videos first), and also by date of their upload (grab the latest ones). The new interface also displays a progress bar with the success/failure status.

2. If you prefer a different download manager, you can export the download paths to a text file and copy-paste it into the download manager. The text file with the URLs of the videos being downloaded can also be kept for reference.

3. You can also download TED videos behind a proxy address.

TED Downloader appears to be the only tool available for the job of downloading multiple TED Talk video files. Between your choice of downloading a single TED video or multiple ones, you can go for either of the two methods. TED Downloader is not a complete download manager yet…for instance, it still can’t pause and resume the downloads. But it is a simple tool and gets the job done.

Of course, you won’t be short of inspiration when it comes to choosing which videos to download. We have covered TED in two previous posts:

• The Best TED Talks To Make Use Of Social Media
• 5 Fascinating & Inspiring TED Talks That Explore The Edge Of Technology

Do you download TED videos to your desktop? Are you aware of any other tool for the purpose? Give a shout in the comments below.

But the opposite is also true. Sometimes sending a link or embedding a video is not enough, and we need the actual file, or only its soundtrack. And when that happens, the default FLV file format rarely cuts it. Luckily, there are several downloaders-converters out there that make it easy as pie to download videos and convert them into almost every possible format.

Xenra

Xenra is an easy-to-use web app which both downloads and converts YouTube videos into multiple formats. You can use it to either download whole videos, or extract entire audio tracks from YouTube videos.

It’s very easy to use. Simply enter a valid YouTube link in the address bar and click the big red shiny “Download Now” button. You can then choose which format you want your video or audio file to be in, choose its quality and control several other aspects of the download.

When you’re done, click “Start Conversion”. Xenra will start by downloading the video to its servers, and then convert it into the requested format. The process is rather swift, depending of course, on the video you chose and the quality you selected.

When it’s done, you can download the file, share it, embed it, and generally have fun with it.

ClipConverter

ClipConverter is another excellent web app which can be used with multiple streaming video websites, not just YouTube. It can even convert or extract audio from video files you already have on your computer.

To start, paste the video’s URL or upload the file you wish to convert.

Now choose which format you want the downloaded file to be converted into. Here too you can download the entire video or extract only the audio. If you wish to download only part of the video, you can specify start and end times and get only that snippet of the video as the final product. When you’re done, click “Start!”.

ClipConverter downloads and converts your video – and does so extremely quickly – and presents a download link along with a QR code, for downloading directly to your phone.

To speed things up even further, try ClipConverter’s browser add-ons for Firefox, Chrome and Safari, or use the handy dandy bookmarklet.

ConvertVideoToAudio

ConvertVideoToAudio is not as slick as the former two web apps, and not nearly as fast. What it does have going for it, are some unique file formats most other such converters don’t offer.

The website itself is way too cluttered with ads, and there are no settings to choose from except format. Having said that, you may find it useful if you need to quickly download and covert an online video into one of these formats, and while you can’t control the quality, it ends up being surprisingly good.

KeepTube

KeepTube is another download and convert service which you can use in multiple ways, although only with YouTube videos. Similar to other web apps, KeepTube sports the copy & paste option, but another way is to add the word “keep” before the word “youtube” on any YouTube URL you’re currently watching.

Both the copy/paste method and the “keep” method will direct you to the KeepTube website, where you can choose your preferred quality. KeepTube can be used mainly for full video downloads (HD and HQ included), but you can also use it to convert videos into MP3s.

If this is not quick enough, you can download a plugin for Firefox or Chrome, or use the bookmarklet. Note that the web app will attempt to launch a Java applet. If this is not to your liking, you can use the non-Java version of the app.

Freemake [Windows]

If web apps are not your cup of tea, and you like the feel of a good desktop app under your feet, this is the option for you. Freemake is a fantastic video converter for Windows which we’ve mentioned in the past, which now also offers Freemake’s free video downloader.

This slick piece of software grabs your video links from the clipboard. Copy the video URL and simply click the “Paste URL” button. The software can be set up in advance with your favorite settings, and will start downloading and converting immediately. When it’s done, you can even play the new file directly from the app.

If you turn off the one-click download option, you can set up the quality, format and location for each file separately. The downloader can also be used to extract audio from videos.

Note that the software requires an installation of the latest version of .NET. If you don’t have it yet, it might take a little while to download.

Conclusion

Last time I actually needed to download and convert a YouTube video from the Internet, it proved to be quite a difficult task. But downloading an converting online videos has been getting increasingly easier, and after only a year or two, the Web is teeming with quick and simple options. Now I can’t wait for it to becomes even easier.

Know of some more easy-to-use video downloaders that also convert? Know of an important option we missed? Share in the comments!

Image credit: Shutterstock

The purpose of the app couldn’t be simpler. With it, you can watch segments from 60 Minutes, the famous American telejournalism show that helped define TV news as a medium.

Even if you have no interest in 60 Minutes whatsoever, you should still check out this beautiful example of a Chrome app. From a design standpoint, it’s clean and stunning. From a usability standpoint, it stays out of your way and lets you find and watch the videos you’re looking for. The minimalistic design captures the clear-cut aesthetic that defines 60 Minutes in a way their cluttered website does not.

There’s simply not a lot to complain about when it comes to this app. I hope the designers for every other TV show are paying attention.

Browsing

Start 60 Minutes and you will see the segments that made up the most recent episode of the show, accompanied by high resolution stills from the episode.

Click the segments to watch them; it’s just that simple. Like I said: this app stays out of your way and lets you just watch.

Want to watch a segment from a previous show? That’s simple too. Just click the “Previous” button at the bottom and you’ll be presented with a list:

You can browse by category or just scroll until you find something to watch. Again, click an episode and it will start playing. It won’t start playing in a tiny section of your browser, either – right away it will play in a large player. The video playback is high-quality, too.

My only complaint is that there’s no full-screen button here. That’s not much of a complaint when so much screen space is already dedicated to the player. I hit F11 and Chrome went full screen, and I could comfortably watch segments from my couch.

There are a collection of unaired videos to watch as well, under the “60 Minutes Overtime” section. I’m assuming these segments are promoted during the weekly television broadcast, as many shows are trying to direct TV watchers to their website.

Do you have a favourite 60 Minutes correspondent? Me neither, but if I did I’d use this app to watch all of that person’s segments:

Pick a correspondent, see a list of segments. Simple.

Get The App!

Want to check this app out for yourself? Get the 60 Minutes App from the Google Chrome web store.

Want to try this out without Chrome? Give that a shot here, but it didn’t work very well for me in Firefox. Heck, it didn’t work well for me in Chromium.

Conclusion

This is by no means the only way to watch news online. It’s the slickest video news app I’ve seen outside the iPad, though.

Am I simply not experienced enough? Share your superior apps and sites in the comments below, because I’ll be hanging out to find out about them from you. Also feel free to let me know if you found some good segments to watch on 60 Minutes.