6 ms·

Show HN: Erin – Open-source and self-hosted TikTok feed for your own videos

119 points by willmoss 2y ago

ramonverse 2y ago
maybe you could use shadcn and chatgpt to make it cuter
candiddevmike 2y ago
The README makes it sound like this uses TikTok, or at least that's how I read it. I think it's just an app that has a TikTok-like UX. You may want to reword things to highlight who would use this and why you built it.
- justusthane 2y ago
  Agreed. It's weird, and probably also a trademark violation? It's not saying that it's "like" a TikTok feed, it's saying that it "is" a TikTok feed.
  - butlike 2y ago
    I'd say just removing the TikTok logo would be a good call. I was able to tell it was self-hosted from the blurb.
  - dgreensp 2y ago
    Yup, it's a sketchy-sounding concept. Is it for "your own videos," or TikTok videos? Why does it have the TikTok logo in it?? It looks like it's a fork or repackaging of someone else's TikTok "clone." The author's writing is fluent, but the whole thing is kind of odd. This is the Internet; the developer could be 17. Who knows.
    - baumschubser 2y ago
      > The author's writing is fluent, but the whole thing is kind of odd. This is the Internet; the developer could be 17. Who knows. They may be 17 or 57, why does that matter? To me the Readme seems absolutely professional. Putting together some React UI lib, use Caddy, put it all in Docker, write a comprehensive Readme with everything there is to know about it and release it. Looks pretty standard (in a good way) to me. Granted, the Tiktok reference is a bit clickbaity. But that's just Github in the year 2024, isn't it?
      - notpushkin 2y ago
        Using the TikTok logo in the app is kinda inappripriate, but otherwise yeah, I think just saying “TikTok for X” gets the idea across in the most concise way. Adding some info on what the videos could be from would be nice though (i.e. do I paste a bunch of YouTube links, or upload files myself, or..?)
        sabbaticaldev 2y ago
        inappropriate to whom?
        warkdarrior 2y ago
        At a minimum, inappropriate from TikTok/ByteDance's point of view. Even if we put that aside, users of this app may find it inappropriate that this app advertised as a "TikTok feed" app is not a TikTok feed app (so it appears very much like a scam from the point of view).
        justusthane 2y ago
        That was my original point though — it’s not saying that it’s “like TikTok” or “TikTok for X”, it’s literally saying that it is TikTok. Edit: The title is “TikTok feed for your clips” so I guess in a literal sense it is describing itself as “TikTok for X”, but I think that’s kind of like saying that something is “Uber for ridesharing”. Yeah, that’s just Uber.
        notpushkin 2y ago
        > I think that’s kind of like saying that something is “Uber for ridesharing”. It’s more like “Uber for your own cars”. (Would be neat by the way, although I have no idea how it would work!) Emphasis in “TikTok feed for your clips” is on you curating the feed and supplying the clips – TikTok here refers to the TikTok-like UI, not the platform itself. I’m not sure who would want that, but the idea seems pretty clear to me. Perhaps a less ambiguous description would work better though, I agree.
KomoD 2y ago
"vertical video feed" would be more accurate, it's nothing like tiktok other than it being a vertical video feed
- joelhaasnoot 2y ago
  Well, and there being feeds of videos?
  - voidUpdate 2y ago
    Don't instagram, youtube and snapchat also have that design language too?
- dtquad 2y ago
  >it's nothing like tiktok other than it being a vertical video feed Agree. It's interesting that people in tech still don't get that what makes Tiktok so much better than Shorts/Reels is TikTok's semi-manually curated recommendations. They algorithmically detect user interest clusters and manually curate high quality videos for the the biggest clusters.
  - spencerchubb 2y ago
    Do you really think it is semi manual? I guess I never considered the possibility, but I would be surprised. It seems like there are way too many niches and sub-niches, and the algorithm works rather quickly when news happens
arnaudsm 2y ago
This is great for creating a media-garden for your children! Kid content on YouTube and TikTok can be extremly disturbing, even for an adult. Until they turn 16 I intend to vet most media myself on a self-hosted server.
- komali2 2y ago
  I thought things had changed after ElsaGate but I peeked into the airbnb room at a friend's party the other day and the kids were watching youtube, and it seems that type of content still has a hold. The kids were watching some really long video of this guy that kept making an AI-esque youtube-thumbnail style open mouth face after some 5 second event occured. E.g: Man runs into door, makes youtube face. Man tries to sit on toilet, but the toilet lid is down. He lifts it, and finds the toilet's full of colored balls, youtube face. Driving, shot of a speed bump, shot of him bouncing in his seat and hitting his head on the ceiling of the car, youtube face. The kids were utterly enthralled. I wish I could find a link to the video but it was just some autoplay on a smart tv and I never managed to grab it before leaving the party.
  - dbspin 2y ago
    Slight tangent, but it's my intuition that some version of this is the end game for media. Completely compelling, AI created, individually attuned videos generated in or near real time that appeal so well to the individual (adult) viewer they overwhelm our learned resistance. Infinite Jest, but rather than dying laughing you orient your entire life around engaging with the content.
    - jareklupinski 2y ago
      if we can fit that power into a box that can fly with me to alpha centauri, i think we'll be ok once we figure out feeding and waste management, entertainment over a low-bandwidth link will be tricky
      - dbspin 2y ago
lasermike026 2y ago
This is good. It is long over due that we burn the social media sites to the ground.
ranger_danger 2y ago
No search function?
elicash 2y ago
Nice work! Can we get a video demo of this in action? Curious what it looks like in desktop, too.
ned99 2y ago
[flagged]
butz 2y ago
Any hints on optimal encoding for videos, to reduce storage and network bandwidth? I would go even for a compromise in video quality, to have them looking more akin to Encarta '98 videos, if it greatly reduces file size.
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y ago
  Newer codecs compress better at the cost of a more complex decoder. so maybe av1 or h.265 at a low bitrate?
sebastiennight 2y ago
The concept seems great for video-based family albums. If there was a way to use ML to auto-categorize the videos into channels (rather than manually sorting them into folders), that would be amazing.

119 points by willmoss 2y ago

maybe you could use shadcn and chatgpt to make it cuter

The README makes it sound like this uses TikTok, or at least that's how I read it. I think it's just an app that has a TikTok-like UX. You may want to reword things to highlight who would use this and why you built it.

justusthane 2y ago
Agreed. It's weird, and probably also a trademark violation? It's not saying that it's "like" a TikTok feed, it's saying that it "is" a TikTok feed.
- butlike 2y ago
  I'd say just removing the TikTok logo would be a good call. I was able to tell it was self-hosted from the blurb.
- dgreensp 2y ago
  Yup, it's a sketchy-sounding concept. Is it for "your own videos," or TikTok videos? Why does it have the TikTok logo in it?? It looks like it's a fork or repackaging of someone else's TikTok "clone." The author's writing is fluent, but the whole thing is kind of odd. This is the Internet; the developer could be 17. Who knows.
  - baumschubser 2y ago
    > The author's writing is fluent, but the whole thing is kind of odd. This is the Internet; the developer could be 17. Who knows. They may be 17 or 57, why does that matter? To me the Readme seems absolutely professional. Putting together some React UI lib, use Caddy, put it all in Docker, write a comprehensive Readme with everything there is to know about it and release it. Looks pretty standard (in a good way) to me. Granted, the Tiktok reference is a bit clickbaity. But that's just Github in the year 2024, isn't it?
    - notpushkin 2y ago
      Using the TikTok logo in the app is kinda inappripriate, but otherwise yeah, I think just saying “TikTok for X” gets the idea across in the most concise way. Adding some info on what the videos could be from would be nice though (i.e. do I paste a bunch of YouTube links, or upload files myself, or..?)
      - sabbaticaldev 2y ago
        inappropriate to whom?
        warkdarrior 2y ago
        At a minimum, inappropriate from TikTok/ByteDance's point of view. Even if we put that aside, users of this app may find it inappropriate that this app advertised as a "TikTok feed" app is not a TikTok feed app (so it appears very much like a scam from the point of view).
      - justusthane 2y ago
        That was my original point though — it’s not saying that it’s “like TikTok” or “TikTok for X”, it’s literally saying that it is TikTok. Edit: The title is “TikTok feed for your clips” so I guess in a literal sense it is describing itself as “TikTok for X”, but I think that’s kind of like saying that something is “Uber for ridesharing”. Yeah, that’s just Uber.
        notpushkin 2y ago
        > I think that’s kind of like saying that something is “Uber for ridesharing”. It’s more like “Uber for your own cars”. (Would be neat by the way, although I have no idea how it would work!) Emphasis in “TikTok feed for your clips” is on you curating the feed and supplying the clips – TikTok here refers to the TikTok-like UI, not the platform itself. I’m not sure who would want that, but the idea seems pretty clear to me. Perhaps a less ambiguous description would work better though, I agree.

KomoD 2y ago

"vertical video feed" would be more accurate, it's nothing like tiktok other than it being a vertical video feed

joelhaasnoot 2y ago
Well, and there being feeds of videos?
- voidUpdate 2y ago
  Don't instagram, youtube and snapchat also have that design language too?
dtquad 2y ago
>it's nothing like tiktok other than it being a vertical video feed Agree. It's interesting that people in tech still don't get that what makes Tiktok so much better than Shorts/Reels is TikTok's semi-manually curated recommendations. They algorithmically detect user interest clusters and manually curate high quality videos for the the biggest clusters.
- spencerchubb 2y ago
  Do you really think it is semi manual? I guess I never considered the possibility, but I would be surprised. It seems like there are way too many niches and sub-niches, and the algorithm works rather quickly when news happens

arnaudsm 2y ago

This is great for creating a media-garden for your children! Kid content on YouTube and TikTok can be extremly disturbing, even for an adult. Until they turn 16 I intend to vet most media myself on a self-hosted server.

komali2 2y ago
I thought things had changed after ElsaGate but I peeked into the airbnb room at a friend's party the other day and the kids were watching youtube, and it seems that type of content still has a hold. The kids were watching some really long video of this guy that kept making an AI-esque youtube-thumbnail style open mouth face after some 5 second event occured. E.g: Man runs into door, makes youtube face. Man tries to sit on toilet, but the toilet lid is down. He lifts it, and finds the toilet's full of colored balls, youtube face. Driving, shot of a speed bump, shot of him bouncing in his seat and hitting his head on the ceiling of the car, youtube face. The kids were utterly enthralled. I wish I could find a link to the video but it was just some autoplay on a smart tv and I never managed to grab it before leaving the party.
- dbspin 2y ago
  Slight tangent, but it's my intuition that some version of this is the end game for media. Completely compelling, AI created, individually attuned videos generated in or near real time that appeal so well to the individual (adult) viewer they overwhelm our learned resistance. Infinite Jest, but rather than dying laughing you orient your entire life around engaging with the content.
  - jareklupinski 2y ago
    if we can fit that power into a box that can fly with me to alpha centauri, i think we'll be ok once we figure out feeding and waste management, entertainment over a low-bandwidth link will be tricky
    - dbspin 2y ago

lasermike026 2y ago

This is good. It is long over due that we burn the social media sites to the ground.

ranger_danger 2y ago

No search function?

elicash 2y ago

Nice work! Can we get a video demo of this in action? Curious what it looks like in desktop, too.

ned99 2y ago

[flagged]

butz 2y ago

Any hints on optimal encoding for videos, to reduce storage and network bandwidth? I would go even for a compromise in video quality, to have them looking more akin to Encarta '98 videos, if it greatly reduces file size.

01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y ago
Newer codecs compress better at the cost of a more complex decoder. so maybe av1 or h.265 at a low bitrate?

sebastiennight 2y ago

The concept seems great for video-based family albums. If there was a way to use ML to auto-categorize the videos into channels (rather than manually sorting them into folders), that would be amazing.