Review: MxTube

MxTube v1.0b | Published by MxWeas | Via BigBoss Source | Free

Overview

MxTube is a beautifully executed app designed to let you download YouTube videos directly to your jailbroken iPhone/iPod Touch to watch later.

Review

My iPod Touch is an amazing little device. The only thing I really think I'd change about it (and plan to, as of July 11th...) is that I have limited network availability. Sure, there's WiFi all over town, now, but what if you don't want to wait for your YouTube videos to load everytime you want to watch them? Or, alternately, you don't feel like searching for a specific video every time you want to show it to one of your friends? MxTube saves the day. Before I go any further, I just want to mention that the author of this application, which has proven to be one of the most robust and rock-solid apps I've tried on the iPhone platform yet, is 13 years old. I'd have to check the dates, but I think my most impressive achievement when I was 13 was designing new spaceships in the Star Wars universe based on what I'd read in the Star Wars Technical Manual. And by "design", of course, I mean "scribble down technical sounding jargon and illustrate with crude stick-drawings." So kudos to you, Max. Back to the review: when you first open the program, it opens to a Featured screen. A welcome message and news bulletin greet you, but the main interface selection runs along the bottom of the screen and very closely emulates the native YouTube app.

Tapping the "Search" button lets you browse for videos, and the results are displayed with ratings, view counts, runtimes, and a preview picture. When you select a video to download, a screen pops up asking whether you'd like to download in High Quality (WiFi), Low Quality (EDGE), or both. Unfortunately, my screenshot software doesn't allow me to get a shot of these popup menus (or their own program, for that matter, so the review on ScreenShot will have to wait for the arrival of my new camera). Tap your selection, and it automatically begins downloading in the background:

Once downloaded, videos will appear in your "Videos" tab. The title, runtime, and author will be displayed, along with a still preview. If you've downloaded both versions of a video, tapping on it will bring up a menu asking you to choose which version you'd like to watch. Otherwise, you will immediately go to the viewing screen, which operates exactly like the packaged YouTube app.

From start to finish, everything works exactly as it should. Everything was intuitive about the operation, and I had my first video downloaded (through WiFi) about two minutes after opening the program for the first time. And that's taking into account my clumsy typing on the touchscreen, so excellent usability. This is a program that I think just about everyone should have on their unit, although I doubt it will ever be made available through the iTunes store.

Summary

Easy to use, easy to read, and fills a need. Everything you could ask for from an iPhone app. Usability: 5 / 5 Value: 5 / 5 Utility: 5 / 5 Aesthetics: 5 / 5

Overall Rating: 5 / 5

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