4 ms·

Send Youtube videos to your Dropbox folder

52 points by samrat 15y ago

doublesprout 15y ago
Why hasn't Dropbox extended its main service with something like this yet? Incredibly simple apps like puu.sh and Skitch have taken off as separate apps and there has been a scattering of Dropbox-integrated third party tools, which I typically have to give away my Dropbox key to use. There's so much data on the web that is difficult to pull out of the cloud, and Dropbox is in the unique position of bridging these two realms. Dropbox has a lock on the position of market leader in file storage, but they haven't built a platform. There was an article a few days ago which described how Dropbox is a feature, not a product, and the whole company would be put out of business if Apple/Microsoft/Google just rebuilt the functionality (a bit hyperbolic, but worth a thought). But I don't think there have been more than a few features since I started using Dropbox a few years ago, and it's not for a shortage of engineers.
- tommi 15y ago
  So perhaps they are building more like a platform and releasing it when it's ready? Who knows. Ripping content out of a youtube might be denied in some EULA so maybe Dropbox just doesn't want to get involved due to legal issues. In any case, Dropbox does one thing and does it well. Anything else is extra and I congratulate them for keeping their game together.
  - zackb 15y ago
    It is a violation of the YouTube EULA and there will also be bandwidth/rate limits imposed.
- miles_matthias 15y ago
  One of the reasons Dropbox is so popular is because of its drop-dead simplicity. I know more features are nice, but how many new features will detract from Dropbox's main business model - a stupid-simple syncing program? One? Ten?
tripzilch 15y ago
It's not entirely clear to me whether this tool transloads the video straight from YouTube to DropBox, or whether it travels (even temporarily) through your machine to do so? I fear it's the latter, and that would basically mean you're using your bandwidth twice. Can DropBox transload files from arbitrary URLs? Because then it should totally be possible.
- wccrawford 15y ago
  "Downloading happens at the fastest possible speed, but without interfering with your Internet usage, so if you have a slow connection you'll be able to download Youtube videos and still use the Internet at optimal speed." That can only be true if it's not using your connection (twice!) to do the download.
  - samrat 15y ago
    That's correct. It doesn't use your connection twice. It just uploads the video to your Dropbox folder after which Dropbox does the syncing.
- samrat 15y ago
  It's the latter. Dropbox doesn't allow transloading files from arbitrary URLs, so it has to travel through my server.
  - OpenAmazing 15y ago
    Careful. That makes you liable for copyright violations. Better to use the user's computer.
wccrawford 15y ago
Does it work yet? I put in a youtube URL and clicked the button, but nothing is happening. Wait, after going back and clicking a few more times, it finally queued it.
zackb 15y ago
How are you going to deal with the YouTube rate limit that is about to (or already has) hit?
twapi 15y ago
It downloads videos in FLV format ... any way to opt for MP4?
- samrat 15y ago
  Yes, select the "Optimize for iPhone" option
  - twapi 15y ago
    glad to know that. Great tool!
dbuxton 15y ago
I love the idea but I'm not wild about giving my Dropbox key (which has about as much sensitive valuable data as my email) to a random wild application. Dropbox really need to allow users to lock down application API access to a specific path.
- palish 15y ago
  No chance I'd give access to random apps either. I have proprietary source code and such in my Dropbox.
ashcairo 15y ago
I bet you he made this just to get more referral storage from Dropbox.
mhunter 15y ago
Why does this service need access to my entire Dropbox? Does Dropbox's API allow you to just create a new folder for your app to access?
res0nat0r 15y ago
youtube-dl: http://rg3.github.com/youtube-dl/ http://rg3.github.com/youtube-dl/
- samrat 15y ago
  Yes , it's really great
owenfi 15y ago
I made a little bookmarklet. Tested to work on Safari/Chrome on Mac. Make sure you are logged in before using. http://pastebin.com/R5mu7c1K http://pastebin.com/R5mu7c1K
kittxkat 15y ago
Hmm, wait. So couldn't I just download the video with an application like youtube-dl normally and save it within the Dropbox folder? Wouldn't that have the same effect? (Syncing with phone etc.)

52 points by samrat 15y ago

Why hasn't Dropbox extended its main service with something like this yet? Incredibly simple apps like puu.sh and Skitch have taken off as separate apps and there has been a scattering of Dropbox-integrated third party tools, which I typically have to give away my Dropbox key to use. There's so much data on the web that is difficult to pull out of the cloud, and Dropbox is in the unique position of bridging these two realms. Dropbox has a lock on the position of market leader in file storage, but they haven't built a platform. There was an article a few days ago which described how Dropbox is a feature, not a product, and the whole company would be put out of business if Apple/Microsoft/Google just rebuilt the functionality (a bit hyperbolic, but worth a thought). But I don't think there have been more than a few features since I started using Dropbox a few years ago, and it's not for a shortage of engineers.

tommi 15y ago
So perhaps they are building more like a platform and releasing it when it's ready? Who knows. Ripping content out of a youtube might be denied in some EULA so maybe Dropbox just doesn't want to get involved due to legal issues. In any case, Dropbox does one thing and does it well. Anything else is extra and I congratulate them for keeping their game together.
- zackb 15y ago
  It is a violation of the YouTube EULA and there will also be bandwidth/rate limits imposed.
miles_matthias 15y ago
One of the reasons Dropbox is so popular is because of its drop-dead simplicity. I know more features are nice, but how many new features will detract from Dropbox's main business model - a stupid-simple syncing program? One? Ten?

tripzilch 15y ago

It's not entirely clear to me whether this tool transloads the video straight from YouTube to DropBox, or whether it travels (even temporarily) through your machine to do so? I fear it's the latter, and that would basically mean you're using your bandwidth twice. Can DropBox transload files from arbitrary URLs? Because then it should totally be possible.

wccrawford 15y ago
"Downloading happens at the fastest possible speed, but without interfering with your Internet usage, so if you have a slow connection you'll be able to download Youtube videos and still use the Internet at optimal speed." That can only be true if it's not using your connection (twice!) to do the download.
- samrat 15y ago
  That's correct. It doesn't use your connection twice. It just uploads the video to your Dropbox folder after which Dropbox does the syncing.
samrat 15y ago
It's the latter. Dropbox doesn't allow transloading files from arbitrary URLs, so it has to travel through my server.
- OpenAmazing 15y ago
  Careful. That makes you liable for copyright violations. Better to use the user's computer.

wccrawford 15y ago

Does it work yet? I put in a youtube URL and clicked the button, but nothing is happening. Wait, after going back and clicking a few more times, it finally queued it.

zackb 15y ago

How are you going to deal with the YouTube rate limit that is about to (or already has) hit?

twapi 15y ago

It downloads videos in FLV format ... any way to opt for MP4?

samrat 15y ago
Yes, select the "Optimize for iPhone" option
- twapi 15y ago
  glad to know that. Great tool!

dbuxton 15y ago

I love the idea but I'm not wild about giving my Dropbox key (which has about as much sensitive valuable data as my email) to a random wild application. Dropbox really need to allow users to lock down application API access to a specific path.

palish 15y ago
No chance I'd give access to random apps either. I have proprietary source code and such in my Dropbox.

ashcairo 15y ago

I bet you he made this just to get more referral storage from Dropbox.

mhunter 15y ago

Why does this service need access to my entire Dropbox? Does Dropbox's API allow you to just create a new folder for your app to access?

res0nat0r 15y ago

youtube-dl: http://rg3.github.com/youtube-dl/ http://rg3.github.com/youtube-dl/

samrat 15y ago
Yes , it's really great

owenfi 15y ago

I made a little bookmarklet. Tested to work on Safari/Chrome on Mac. Make sure you are logged in before using. http://pastebin.com/R5mu7c1K http://pastebin.com/R5mu7c1K

kittxkat 15y ago

Hmm, wait. So couldn't I just download the video with an application like youtube-dl normally and save it within the Dropbox folder? Wouldn't that have the same effect? (Syncing with phone etc.)