Tubcal.
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Tubcal.

One place for YouTube, Reddit, Hacker News, GitHub and anime.

Tubcal brings the YouTube channels, subreddits, news, code projects and anime you follow into one app, with no ads. It runs on your own computer, and you use it in your web browser.

install · paste into a terminal
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Shio-T0/Tubcal/main/install.sh | bash

It asks which parts you want, shows what it will install, and waits for you to agree. Afterwards, open Tubcal from your app menu. The manual has step-by-step instructions.

Take the tour Read the manual
Runs on
Linux: Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, Arch, openSUSE and most others.
Price
Free. It's open-source software (GPL-3.0).
Accounts
None for YouTube, Reddit or GitHub. The anime part needs a free AniList account.
Your data
Stays on your computer. There's no Tubcal server.

CtrlK search this site · t change skin · ? all shortcuts

01 Where Tubcal opens

Home and the three channels

Tubcal opens on a home screen that shows what to watch or read next. From there you go into one of three channels: Social, Coding or Video. Each channel holds a few rooms, and each has a layout of its own. The screenshots on this page come from a test setup that follows some popular public channels and subreddits. Click a picture to see it full size.

    To change channel, turn a knob on the home screen or press 1, 2 or 3 there. Every channel also has the three channel buttons in its bar. From anywhere, press Space, then g, then s, c or v.

    02 Channel 1

    Social

    The news and discussion you follow: a daily paper made from all of it, Hacker News, and Reddit. The rooms are listed in a bar across the top of the page, like the sections of a newspaper. Choose a room with the tabs.

    Try it

    The Edition, with and without AI

    Each morning Tubcal makes a front page from the channels, subreddits and Hacker News stories you follow. On its own it lists the headlines. With a local AI (one that runs on your computer) it can also group related posts and write a short article for each top story. Use the two switches to see what each one adds.

    Optional · needs a local AI
    1. Headlinestitles and numbers
    2. Matchedrelated posts grouped
    3. Writtenshort articles with sources

    1. Made in advanceTubcal builds the paper in the background, so it's ready when you open it.
    2. Back issuesEvery paper is kept, and you can go back to any earlier day.
    3. Read marksStories you open are ticked off, and a ring at the top shows how much is left.
    4. Sources checkedA written story has to cite the posts it came from. If the AI's draft doesn't, the paper shows the plain headline instead.
    03 Channel 2

    Coding

    A code editor, news about four programming languages, and GitHub. The rooms are buttons down the left, as in a code editor, and a bar across the top shows where you are. If you don't write code, you can leave this channel out when you install.

    04 Channel 3

    Video

    YouTube, anime, and a searchable archive of what you've watched. The rooms are on a wooden panel down the left, and the room you're in lists its own places under its button. The Anime has a section of its own further down.

    Try it

    The player

    Videos from every room open in the same player, with no ads, at up to 1080p. The progress bar is split into the video's chapters, and the line above it rises where people replay most. Click the demo to start it, then try the keyboard shortcuts (the Keys tab lists them).

    0:00 / 18:40
    How a picture tube paints a picture
    The Phosphor Lab182K subscribers
    Still playing in the corner. Press Esc or click it to bring it back.

    The Transcript tab follows the video as it plays. In the app, that needs The Archive to have transcribed the video first. Press Esc and the video moves to a corner and keeps playing while you browse.

    05 Channel 3 · Video

    The Anime

    The Anime works with AniList, a free website for tracking what you watch. You can browse each season, keep your list up to date, watch episodes and read the forums. In the app, its views are listed under its button in the panel on the left, with your AniList account at the top. Here, choose one with the tabs.

    06 From any page

    Saved and Settings

    Almost everything in Tubcal has a bookmark button: videos, posts, stories, anime, characters, GitHub projects, even files in the code editor. Whatever you save goes to one place. Saved and Settings open in a panel at the side of the screen, so you don't lose the page you were on.

    Settings → Rooms

    Choose which rooms you see

    Switch off the rooms you don't use, and the rest of the channel is renumbered. GitHub starts switched off, and the Anime is always on. Try the switches.

    07 Appearance

    Skins

    Tubcal has eight skins, from an old wooden TV set to a green-on-black terminal. Each card below is drawn in its skin. Click one and this page switches to it too, along with the screenshots above.

    In Tubcal, change the skin with the skin button in any channel's bar, or in the Settings panel. Fast mode is there too; it turns off all animation. The Android app doesn't have Cutting Mat, because it's designed for a desktop screen.

    08 Privacy

    Where your data goes

    Tubcal is a program on your computer, not a website. There's no Tubcal server, so nothing about you is sent to the people who make it, and there are no ads or analytics. The list on the right is every site Tubcal connects to.

    where Tubcal runs
    Your computer
    • Only this computer can open Tubcal. Other devices on your network can't.
    • What you follow, watch and save is stored here and nowhere else.
    • The optional AI runs here too, so what you watch isn't sent anywhere to be analysed.
    1. YouTubevideos and channel feeds, fetched without signing in and without cookies, so YouTube can't link your viewing together
    2. Reddityour subreddits, and your account only if you connect it
    3. Hacker Newsstories, comments and search
    4. GitHubthe projects and people you follow, and your account only if you link it
    5. AniListyour anime list, through your own account
    6. Helperspublic YouTube mirrors (for trending, and as a search backup), the anime streaming sites while you watch, AnimeThemes for opening songs, the Workbench's podcast and blog feeds, and update checks for Tubcal's video tools
    7. Nothing elseno ad networks, analytics or trackers
    09 Free · Linux

    Install

    Paste this into a terminal and press Enter. The installer checks your system, asks which rooms you want, and asks before it changes anything.

    install
    curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Shio-T0/Tubcal/main/install.sh | bash
    then, any time
    tubcal             # opens Tubcal in your browser
tubcal add github  # adds a room you left out
tubcal phone       # puts Tubcal on your Android phone

    When it's finished, open Tubcal from your app menu. The rooms are empty at first: add some YouTube channels and subreddits in Settings to fill them. A room you didn't pick isn't downloaded, and you can add it later.

    Read the manual View on GitHub