{"id":11553,"date":"2026-04-25T09:59:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T09:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=11553"},"modified":"2026-04-25T09:59:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T09:59:44","slug":"meet-your-favorite-new-way-to-watch-youtube","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=11553","title":{"rendered":"Meet your favorite new way to watch YouTube"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

There are \u200bmore than 20 billion things\u200b<\/a> to watch on YouTube, but sometimes that endless choice can feel constraining.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all too easy, for instance, to get trapped inside an algorithmic bubble that keeps stuffing you with more of the same thing. And that\u2019s before you get sidetracked looking at comments, descriptions, and sidebar recommendations.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, a new tool makes watching YouTube feel more like watching old-school TV\u2014with a grid-based channel guide to flip through and minimal distractions.<\/p>\n

This tip originally appeared in the free <\/em>Cool Tools newsletter<\/em><\/strong><\/a> from <\/em>The Intelligence<\/em><\/a>. Get the next issue <\/em>in your inbox<\/em><\/a> and get ready to discover all sorts of awesome tech treasures!<\/em><\/p>\n

YouTube, cable-style<\/h2>\n

To bring the classic channel-flipping experience to YouTube, check out a new tool called Channel Surfer\u200b<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u279c Channel Surfer is a free website that aggregates YouTube videos into dozens of round-the-clock streaming stations.<\/p>\n

\u231a It takes all of two seconds to visit the \u200bchannelsurfer.tv\u200b<\/a> website and start watching something.<\/p>\n

And the site is free to use\u2014with no subscriptions and no ads other than what YouTube itself shows.<\/p>\n

Channel Surfer is like an old-school cable channel guide\u2014but for YouTube.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2705 Once you\u2019ve loaded the page (and clicked past the delightful static fade-in effect), just scroll through the grid guide and click on a channel number to start playing it.<\/p>\n

Channel Surfer currently offers 42 preset channels, covering topics like food, travel, world news, and music. Programming is arranged 24 hours in advance, and anyone who\u2019s tuned in to a channel will be watching the same thing, just like on cable.<\/p>\n

(As an aside, this is a lot like the free streaming service Pluto TV\u200b<\/strong><\/a> in its early years, before it started licensing full TV episodes from studios. If you miss that version of Pluto, Channel Surfer scratches the same itch.)<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udca1Channel Surfer can also create additional stations from your own personal YouTube subscriptions, with a caveat: You\u2019ll need to provide an email address, which the creator will use to email you about his other coding projects.<\/p>\n

\"\"
You can import your own subscriptions and turn them into channels.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re okay with that, it\u2019s easiest to get going on a desktop computer: Just hit the \u201cImport Your Channels\u201d button, enter your email, then drag the \u201cChannel Surfer\u201d button to your browser\u2019s bookmarks bar. Click that button while viewing your subscriptions page on YouTube, and you\u2019ll get a specially formatted JSON file to copy and paste back into the Channel Surfer site. Then, you\u2019ll see a bunch of extra channels at the bottom of the guide.<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udde0 Some other handy features to be aware of:<\/p>\n