Apple TV, iPhone and iPad
On the App Store for Apple TV today, with iPhone and iPad on their way. One app, and one page on the App Store, for all three.
BufferedTV for AppleAn independent app for PeerTube
Watch the video network nobody owns.
BufferedTV brings PeerTube to your telly, your phone and your tablet: thousands of independent video sites in one free app. There are no adverts, and nothing tracks what you watch.
Coming soon bTV One, the indie TV channel the UK never had
What’s PeerTube?
Video, without anyone in charge of it.
The big video sites each belong to one company, which decides what you see and sells your attention to pay for it. PeerTube works differently, and it only takes three steps to explain.
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Lots of small video sites
PeerTube isn’t one website. It’s thousands of small ones, run by universities, charities, communities and people at home. Each one is called an instance, and hosts its own videos.
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Sharing with each other
Instances follow one another, a bit like people do on social media. Follow another instance and its videos turn up on yours, so it all joins up into one big network that nobody owns.
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One app to watch the lot
BufferedTV connects your telly, phone or tablet to an instance, and through it to everything else. Search the whole network and it plays what it finds, wherever it lives.
You don’t need to understand any of this to use it. Type in the address of an instance, such as tilvids.com or framatube.org, and start watching. You can sign in if you have an account there, or just browse.
Coming soon
bTV One: the indie TV channel the UK never had.
BufferedTV is getting a PeerTube instance of its own, and a channel to go with it. bTV One is a linear live stream: programmes one after another, to a schedule, the way telly has always worked.
What’s on it comes from independent creators and small studios, who don’t often get a slot on the telly.
The ident has no sound. Words beginning with b take turns beside a little violet TV, two a second: breakfast TV, bold TV, brave TV, bright TV, brew TV, brilliant TV, banter TV, bedtime TV, boundless TV, brainy TV, British TV, beautiful TV and buffered TV. Then it settles on bTV One, with a buffer bar and buffered.tv underneath.
A schedule, not an algorithm
bTV One has a schedule with people behind it, who check what goes out. No formula decides what you see by working out what will keep you watching.
Made by independent creators
The programmes come from creators and small studios, and stay theirs. BufferedTV runs the channel and gives them the airtime.
On demand as well
The instance is a library too, where creators publish their own videos to watch whenever you like. It’s PeerTube like any other, so BufferedTV will play it, and so will a web browser.
Make programmes yourself? If you’d like them on bTV One, Ric would like to hear from you. Email [email protected], or message @[email protected] on Mastodon.
Neither is open yet. This page will say when bTV One is on air.
What BufferedTV does
The whole network in one app, with nobody watching you.
Each version is made for its own screen, and they all work the same way.
Search the whole network
Most PeerTube apps only search the server you signed in to, so a channel you know exists often won’t turn up. BufferedTV searches everywhere by default and plays what it finds, from wherever it’s hosted.
Sign in, or don’t
Bring your subscriptions, playlists, Watch Later and history from any instance. Or just browse, and sign in later if you like.
No tracking
There are no analytics, adverts or tracking in the app, and it reports nothing back to us. Read the privacy policy.
Sensitive videos stay hidden
Videos marked sensitive are left out until you choose otherwise. Set a parental PIN and nobody can change that without it, or have the app ask for the PIN before each one plays.
Block what you don’t want
Block an account, or a whole server, and it disappears everywhere, comments included. Report anything worse to the moderators, straight from the video.
Subtitles in your language
Point BufferedTV at a LibreTranslate server, free software you can run yourself, and it translates a video’s subtitles while you watch. It’s off until you switch it on.
Where to watch
On the screens you already have.
BufferedTV is built twice over, once for Apple’s devices and once for Android’s, so it’s at home on each. Sign in to the same instance on any of them, and your subscriptions, playlists and where you got to come with you.
Android, Google TV and Fire TV
Coming soon to Android phones and tablets, and to tellies that run Google TV, Android TV or Fire TV. One app for all of them.
BufferedTV for AndroidWho we are
Independent, and made in the open.
BufferedTV is built with love by Ric Harvey and supported by SquareCows. It’s an independent app: PeerTube itself is made by Framasoft, a French non-profit, whose logo appears in ours with their permission.
There’s no BufferedTV account to make, and the app sends us nothing about what you watch. The Apple TV, iPhone and iPad apps are open source, and ideas, bug reports and contributions are welcome.
Questions
Good to know.
Where can I get it?
BufferedTV is on the App Store for Apple TV now, with iPhone and iPad to follow. The version for Android phones and tablets, Google TV, Android TV and Fire TV is on its way. Each has a page of its own: BufferedTV for Apple and BufferedTV for Android.
Does it cost anything?
No. BufferedTV is free, and there are no adverts in it.
Is BufferedTV made by PeerTube?
No. BufferedTV is an independent app for PeerTube, built by Ric Harvey and supported by SquareCows. PeerTube itself is made by Framasoft, a French non-profit, whose logo appears in ours with their permission.
Does BufferedTV host the videos?
The app doesn’t. Every video is kept by a PeerTube instance, which sets its own rules and has its own moderators, and the app is only the player. In it you can hide sensitive videos, block an account or a whole server, and report a video to the moderators. Our own instance, when it opens, will be one of them: we’ll host what’s published there, and moderate it.
What is bTV One?
bTV One is the live channel on BufferedTV’s own PeerTube instance, and both are coming soon. It’s the indie TV channel the UK never had: a linear stream of programmes from independent creators and small studios, running to a schedule. It isn’t on air yet, and this page will say when it is.
Do I need an account?
No. Pick an instance and browse, search and watch without one. An account on an instance adds subscriptions, playlists, Watch Later, history, likes and comments, and you can sign in whenever you like.
Which instance should I choose?
Any you like: each has its own videos and its own rules, and whichever you pick, you can search the whole network from it. If you already have a PeerTube account, use the instance it’s on. If not, joinpeertube.org keeps a list of public ones.
Make videos too?
BufferedTV Studio: run your PeerTube channel from anywhere.
Our app for the people who make the videos, on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Upload, go live from the device itself, have your subtitles written on it, answer comments and read your analytics. Coming soon.
See BufferedTV Studio