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128 points darajava | 6 comments | | HN request time: 0.401s | source | bottom

Hi HN! I built this little extension to prevent, in my opinion, the most offensive anti-pattern used by tech companies. That is removing the seek bar in short-form videos.

The "seek bar" is the bar at the bottom of a video that progresses as you play the video, and that you can click on or drag to skip around. Why companies ever thought it was a good idea to get rid of this I don't know, but I find it infuriating, so I decided to add it back for myself and thought others might like it too.

ReelControl adds a progress bar and seeking capabilities to videos on Instagram, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook Reels.

I do sometimes enjoy watching short-form content and I've found that with this extension enabled I can be more mindful about it and get sucked in way less. I'm also on my phone less because I tend to favor the web versions of these platforms now.

Open source--PRs and issues welcome! https://github.com/darajava/seek-anywhere/

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joshdavham ◴[] No.43559581[source]
Thanks for sharing! Also, would you mind adding a license to your gh repo?
replies(1): >>43559673 #
1. darajava ◴[] No.43559673[source]
No problem. Yes, I never thought of that! What is the practical benefit of having a license here and which one should I choose?
replies(3): >>43559743 #>>43559745 #>>43559767 #
2. Jitnaught_ ◴[] No.43559743[source]
Without a license your repo is technically not open-source, only source-available. A license says what people are allowed to do with the code, so if you don't add a license, they're not allowed to do anything.
replies(1): >>43559807 #
3. captn3m0 ◴[] No.43559745[source]
Having a license clarifies what permissions are you giving to someone who downloads your code. The practical benefit is that others can clearly contribute back or build on your work without any legal concerns.

Something like MIT gives them permission to do anything as long as attribution is maintained, while avoiding liabilities.

But there are others you can pick: https://choosealicense.com/

replies(1): >>43559803 #
4. freedomben ◴[] No.43559767[source]
Without a license, legaly nobody can do anything with the code. The license is essentially the way that you communicate what you will allow people to do with it.

For a project like this, I would strongly recommend an MIT license. That will essentially allow people to use the code and modify it, contribute back to it, and otherwise distribute their changes.

5. darajava ◴[] No.43559803[source]
Thank you! MIT license added. https://github.com/darajava/reel-control/commit/4d014f578b93...
6. darajava ◴[] No.43559807[source]
That's great, I've added an MIT license. https://github.com/darajava/reel-control/commit/4d014f578b93...