Having multiple videos open with browser style tabs

[Multipanda]

Checklist

• I checked, but didn't find any duplicates (open OR closed) of this issue in the repo.
• I have read the contribution guidelines given at https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe/blob/HEAD/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md.
• This issue contains only one feature request. I will open one issue for every feature I want to request.

Describe the feature you want

What I think this app is missing the most is the option of multitasking, it's pretty normal to open multiple youtube tabs when using a browser would like the same option here.
The idea is to have only one click(that part is important IMO) needed to jump to another open tab/video

I imagine it would be a lot of work under the hood, but very much worth it in the long run.

Optionally, also describe alternatives you've considered.
I guess the minimised player in theory can work as a second tab, but it doesn't work that well IMO, and I actually find it kinda annoying and wish it was possible to turn it off. Same with using android split screen.
Adding to a temporary playlist for later consumption is a partial option, but not a good one UI wise, and just takes more clicks.

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe it

It makes the act of browsing videos feel clumsy when there's no option for parking videos temporary for later consumption or the option of going back and forth between two or more videos if comparing something or just wanting a break from a longer video.

Additional context

I'm thinking in the vein of having a column of discrete tabs on the left or right side rather than at the top, to better take advantage of the widescreen format in landscape mode.

How will you/everyone benefit from this feature?

Well if we could multitask more, colonizing that galaxy might become a tad more likely ;-)
I think most people would like it so they have a more seamless transition to this app from their normal browsing.

[moriel5]

This would certainly be an intriguing and welcome addition, though I find it hard to see how to properly pull it off.

Your idea of a tab sidebar is a good one, however while it is something that some people would recognize from the browser (as you had mentioned), it does not really feel natural (tabbed videos in the browser is far from natural, even on the desktop, where I could at times open twenty videos (amongst other roles of content) while researching).

While I can't really think of something that will fit everyone's needs,I could throw in another suggestion, such as bubbles (ala Chrome Custom Tabs), possibly contained within one bubble (as in, a list or grid of bubble), so as not to take up too much screen real-estate.

[Multipanda]

Well, having multiple tabs open is pretty natural for me at least. :-)
The idea of tabs is for it to be as accessible as possible with only one click needed to jump to another open tab/video.

I like the Firefox browser tab implementation when you have many open where rather than showing all tabs, it shows a certain amount (on my screen it's around 20), and a quick slider can then give you scroll-access to the rest. I think it's also a trick to make many open tabs less demanding on the CPU.

Though of course it's probably not everyone's cup of tea and like most settings it should be optional so it can be turned off and customizable; Such as number of tabs visible, tab size and maybe whether it shows tab titles or just icons.

I do think a lot of people would end up loving it, especially the heavy PC users that take the aforementioned browser multitasking for granted.

[naums]

I would deviate a bit from the tab idea.

My main problem is the mixture between the currently playing thing (which minimizes itself to the bottom), and what I'm currently looking for. When I am done with a video and want to go back (with the back-button), the currently playing thing always comes up - which is definitely not what I wanted, especially when I started that a 20 minutes ago.

How about splitting these two completey - let me browse on one end in a linear fashion, and have the currently-playing context seperately. Maybe the currently playing could become a "Playlist"-View.

A generalisation of that is the tabbing idea, which would be swell, but not really useful to a lot of people, I feel. I for one are quite happy to just have one context for searching and adding, and a different one for when I want to see what is currently playing and maybe enable video or stuff.

[Multipanda]

That is a different suggestion altogether, the ability to turn off the minimized player/run with playlist is very different from my suggestion. If it hasn't been suggested before, you can always create your own feature suggestion post and expand upon it.

The back thing where a previous video is played seems like a bug, at least I created a bug report on it and suggested adding the option of turning the minimized player off.

A generalisation of that is the tabbing idea, which would be swell, but not really useful to a lot of people, I feel. I for one are quite happy to just have one context for searching and adding, and a different one for when I want to see what is currently playing and maybe enable video or stuff.

I quite disagree, for people who spend time browsing youtube on a PC and are used to multiple tabs, it would be a big boon. And as I mentioned it should be optional so it doesn't hurt you that I could get something I sorely want. I find the lack of tabs the biggest thing missing in the current UI.

[SameenAhnaf]

@litetex Isn't this a duplicate of #2633?

[moriel5]

It really is similar, but not quite the same.

Ultimately, it references the same shortcoming, however requests a different solution.

[SameenAhnaf]

Tbh, I am not sure. Many browsers even have the customisation to show tabs in different modes. It doesn't really matter if you call them tabs or windows.

Screenshot

My main problem is the mixture between the currently playing thing (which minimizes itself to the bottom), and what I'm currently looking for. When I am done with a video and want to go back (with the back-button), the currently playing thing always comes up - which is definitely not what I wanted, especially when I started that a 20 minutes ago.

@naums I think, you are asking for #4569.

How about splitting these two completey - let me browse on one end in a linear fashion, and have the currently-playing context seperately. Maybe the currently playing could become a "Playlist"-View

Are you talking about this type of layout? It's already suggested in #5235.

Screenshot

[litetex]

@litetex Isn't this a duplicate of #2633?

@SameenAhnaf
I think these issues are a bit separate:

• Multiple windows to allow opening/pausing multiple videos (like browser tabs) #2633 refers to a multi-window mode
• this issues refers to multiple tabs (inside the app)

This can be compared to e.g. a browser on a desktop OS (like Windows).
You can open multiple browser instances / programs but these instances can have multiple tabs etc.

I personally would prefer currently neither of both implementation ideas.

Why?

• You can (normally) only play one video/media on Android

• Multitasking may be a good idea for a browser or a text editor. But for a (music) player? (I know no music player that can play multiple videos at the same time on Android)

• 2 instances/tabs would need considerable more resources.
  We got issues in the past where people struggled to view one video because the RAM of the phone was not sufficient.

• It makes the act of browsing videos feel clumsy when there's no option for parking videos temporary for later consumption or the option of going back and forth between two or more videos if comparing something or just wanting a break from a longer video.

  There are already playlists, playback positions and/or the watch history for such a purpose.

[moriel5]

@litetex NewPipe is not a music player that can also play videos, but a multimedia streaming player that plays both videos (including subtitles) and audio, so multiple titles (video/audio) are something that does belong here.

That said, I do agree that it's going to be hard to find an implementation that fits people's needs, as I had mentioned earlier in this issue thread.

[moriel5]

As @litetex had mentioned, there are already playlists, playback positions and the watch history for quickly getting back to other videos, however they don't really fit this usecase.

Playlists cannot be accessed without the notification, unless they are saved, which is not very intuitive or helpful when the videos need to be temporary, however you need to see automatically details such as comments.

Playback positions are very useful, but only in combination with other features.

And the watch history is good for finding previously viewed media, however is not good for just viewing the current queue.

Perhaps if we could expand the current queue accessibility, as well as what is rendered, to include the "page", while suspending decoding that is not is actively played back at the same time (normal, fullscreen, PIP, music), and do something similar to what Chromium does, in which you could open several windows with tabs, just in this case, several windows with different media "pages", it may work, however this may still be too janky to be worth it.

[goyalyashpal]

My main problem is the mixture between the currently playing thing (which minimizes itself to the bottom), and what I'm currently looking for. When I am done with a video and want to go back (with the back-button), the currently playing thing always comes up - which is definitely not what I wanted, especially when I started that a 20 minutes ago.

How about splitting these two completey - let me browse on one end in a linear fashion, and have the currently-playing context seperately. Maybe the currently playing could become a "Playlist"-View.

- @ naums at #5726 (comment)

yeah, exactly.
these 2 details and play are entirely different things. i was about to open a dedicated issue for this one.

• when i am "browsing" or exploring videos, looking for info, i want to be able to freely:
  • open the details page,
  • click on video thumbnail image to view that image in full screen
  • look at chapters it offers
  • read its subtitles (also see: Show Chapters and Transcripts in video details tab #7375)
• that is, anything OTHER THAN playing its audio / video should NOT interfere with what's currently playing.
• these both should inte

this is such a thing i always keep bumping into, and really hope that it will be fixed in the rewrite.

all in all, there are these things:

• totally passive things: the details, comments and browsing
  these are not coupled with the player. these can stand on their own too.
• totally active things: video player (or audio thumbnail if in audio mode), player controls
  these are not coupled with details.
• partially active things: subtitles, chapters
  relevant to both the details, and the currently player
• playing queue
• related videos (also see: Merge Play Queue and Related Videos #7973)

how do you design a nice interface to manage all these things?
i don't have the tools to be able to ideate, iterate, and communicate on this,
and merely words aren't enough for me to find the solution.