Update: Improvements to Video Download Functionality
Today, after extensive discussions, I focused on refining the form and logic for video downloads. Here are the key updates:
Toggleable subtitles: Users shared valuable cases where subtitles were intrusive, especially during pure listening exercises. Now, in subtitle-off mode, the subtitle area displays the movie title, year, and timestamp instead.
Neutral watermark branding: Replaced the branded watermark with the neutral slogan "Learn Real Language with Real Movies." I believe this captures the essence of the service effectively. Feedback welcome.
Direct MP4 downloads: Adjusted the script to deliver videos directly in MP4 format rather than as an archive file, responding to user feedback requesting simpler and quicker downloads.
Fixed subtitle-disabled video bug: Resolved an issue preventing video downloads when subtitles were not available (common in non-English videos).
Subtitle color bug fixed: Corrected the issue where all subtitles appeared highlighted in yellow. Now only the searched phrase is highlighted, while the remaining text appears correctly in white.
Subtitle visibility issue: Fixed an irritating bug causing subtitles and text to disappear prematurely at the start and end of videos, especially noticeable with short phrases.
It has been a productive day with meaningful progress, though slightly stressful at times. Your input helped us reach effective compromises.
Thank you for your continued support!
Comments (18)
thanks for the work you started, but I have little to no use for this with watermarks. I’ll be unsubscribing and be waiting to return once the watermarks are able to be toggled or disabled. All the best
Please read the latest published post.
mr Evgeny playphrase.me need this fix: *** save export dialog state (karakeo) : for every export, we must settup our favorite changes!. once settup is enough!
Yes, I'm about to work on that right now. All options will be saved in the browser's local storage.
We kindly request you to bring back the option to download clips without watermarks and movie names. It was extremely helpful for our workflow and made the clips much more versatile. Thank you for your consideration!
Please read the latest published post.
Will the core functionality of being able to search phrases still remain? Downloads etc aren't a worry for me personally. I just like to be able to put a phrase in and find all the instances of it that I can.
Nothing has changed, I just removed the downloading of original videos without transformation. We are still moving forward, improving the service as planned. Soon, I will release actor search and other interesting features.
Please bring back the option to download without watermarks & subtitles.
Please read the latest published post.
Hmm... yeah it's a shame how great PlayPhrase was before, but now... I dunno. I was surprised to hear this deemed as an "educational tool" for language learning purposes as it seemed great for entertainment purposes, even if just for personal projects. Like I made this for my mom for Mother's Day... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68Yl4Hib-tw (was just for her, but other people enjoyed it too). But now with the watermarks on there and downloading becoming more of a pain with all the extra clicks (I miss how it was when I first started using PlayPhrase)... I guess I've got 2 weeks to decide if I'm going to continue with PlayPhrase or figure out an alternative solution. Sounds like you're being forced into this by some powers that be, so I don't hold it against you. Just a shame. It was a good run.
Please read the latest published post.
Hi Evgeny, thanks for the updates! I'm a big fan of PlayPhrase and appreciate your work on it. I have a couple of suggestions: could you add an option to download clips without the text slogan "Learn Real Language with Real Movies" and film title at the bottom? Also, could we restore the option to download clips in their original dimensions, perhaps as an "Original" setting under "Video Size"? Thanks again for your efforts! I'll continue to support the project.
Unfortunately, no on all points. Regarding the slogan - I need to show that this is educational material - I could write something boring like "for educational purposes only." Better this way.
I love playphrase and I’m thankful for all your work. But do you think you could add an option of downloading a clip without subtitles? I use it for English learning, and if there are subtitles, it’s like cheating. I would love to continue being able not to read a sentence but work on my listening skills instead. I would really appreciate it, thank you very much!
As I wrote in this post - the first point - that many of you find subtitles distracting, and I made it possible to turn them off.
Thank you for considering some of our suggestions, Evgeny! It seems like downloads might not be working at the moment? I just get a never-ending spinning wheel.
It works for me, just checked. Is it reproducible?