Internet app permits you to browse YouTube with a 90s-like channel information

Bear in mind the times of flipping by TV channels on a Saturday afternoon, in search of one thing good to look at? Effectively, now you are able to do it over again, due to a brand new internet app.

Named Channel Surfer, it’s primarily a YouTube discovery device that surfaces fascinating movies by matter and organizes them by time, so you’ll be able to’t truly skip. It’s additionally set as much as appear to be a late-90s channel information. Humorous sufficient, whereas I used to be messing round with it, I heard the app make the acquainted and really nostalgic ‘thunk’ of a 90’s CRT TV when altering channels.

There are at the moment greater than 40 channels within the web-based app, grouped by content material sort (sports activities, AI, gaming, Historical past, and so forth.).

Steven Irby, the designer, spoke with TechCrunch and defined why he developed it.

“I constructed Channel Surfer as a result of I’m uninterested in the algorithms and indecision fatigue,” Irby mentioned. “I miss channel browsing and never having to resolve what to look at. I wish to simply sit and tune into what’s on and never take into consideration what to look at subsequent.”

Curiously, Irby posted on X that the app had already damaged 10,000 views on its first day.

OMG this blew up in a single day! I received over 10,000 views on day 1. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/fY20ZVB3Xl

— Steven Irby (@StevenIrby) March 12, 2026

To be honest, there are many these YouTube-based channel surfers on the market. One specifically, created by Joey Cato, is “My Retro TV.” It includes a neat body that appears like an previous TV and makes use of YouTube playlists of assorted content material, permitting you to channel-surf by what was on TV in a given 12 months (severely, you’ll be able to decide any particular 12 months). This consists of film trailers, sports activities highlights, commercials, and so forth. It additionally isn’t restricted to simply the 2000s, too: My Retro TV goes all the best way again to the 50’s. 

As talked about earlier, it’s a fairly cool channel-flipper for those who ever get that nostalgic itch to channel-surf, however I’m undecided I’d use it daily. A method I might see myself utilizing it’s whereas working, to have some background noise, avoiding all of the noon timeslot filler that’s often on TV.

Supply: Engadget