Show HN: FocusStream – Focused, distraction-free YouTube for learners
9 comments
·September 20, 2025arcanemachiner
I'm not signing in just to find out what your website does.
krawcu
I refreshed the main page and recommended topics disappeared with message "Failed to load topics".
Logout button doesn't redirect anywhere and I cannot log back in - too many requests.
Also remember me button doesn't change state onClick.
freetonik
A landing page or better a login-free demo mode would be great. Right now all I see is a sign up page, which does not convince me of anything.
The idea sounds interesting and attractive though.
Lauris100
Agree - I wanted to try this and I expect it to work like YouTube or close as possible. I am not watching 5 minute demo or signing up for a random project even if I would love to use YouTube in a more mindful way. Just give me a search bar and allow me to search 10 times for free and then I might sign up.
iumo
Good to see something like this, but you can solve some of the problems within youtube like autoplay, you can disable it. As for the recommendations on homepage you can clear youtube history and pause it in yours accounts activity center¹, for hiding video suggestions, personally I use theatre mode(so that i need to scroll) and extension to disable it. Similarly I hide the YouTube shorts using the extension.
Also, the landing page starts with a signup :)
1. The downside is that you also lose your YouTube Music history.
weinzierl
YouTube is a quasi-monopoly and one of the most important sources of educational content in our time. Kids use it, and teachers sometimes recommend it.
I am usually against regulation, but in this case I think having YouTube Shorts next to educational content is like a school kiosk selling crack cocaine next to hot dogs.
kakd
It sounds interesting but what exactly does it do?
jj_the_bunny
A few critiques.
1. Your base page doesn't describe what topics can or would be available. What are we trying to learn here? Languages? Science? How to be a better YouTuber? 2. You have a demo video. I haven't watched it. Why? Because I HATE having to watch videos if I could read a description instead. I read at least 10x faster than I can watch anything. That applies to learning as well, but some topics do work better in a visual medium. 3. You say its free but requiring me to sign up. To me that's not free. Maybe its not needing my money, but you're still needing my information. 4. Offer sign up/sign in with other identity providers.
TL;DR - Spend some time describing your product to someone who doesn't know need your product, not explaining it like I've tried other products and need shortcuts.
null
I built FocusStream because I was tired of going to YouTube to learn one thing, then getting lost in recommendations and distractions.
With FocusStream, just enter your topic and get only the relevant YouTube videos—no unrelated suggestions or autoplay.
It’s free, minimal. Would love your feedback!
Try it: https://focusstream.media Demo video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fCvOJ6kRs9jn7O_hIGgP6wBuq4f...