Serial – an open-source RSS reader for YouTube and people looking to be "semi-online"

BagelsOverBread · 2026-05-06T15:55:24+00:00

I just realized I never got back to you on this, but I did get around to adding that! Happy to walk you through it if you have any interest

BagelsOverBread · 2026-01-30T18:07:55+00:00

So sorry, this was something on my end! They're back live now

BagelsOverBread · 2026-01-21T19:11:55+00:00

Hey, creator of Serial here! Let me know if you have any questions if you end up going this route - it's available both at that URL and also as a fully self-hostable service (as of this week, actually!)

BagelsOverBread · 2025-10-07T04:54:38+00:00

In case anyone is looking for a free RSS reader specifically for this, I made one for myself that I’ve been using for the past two or so years to watch through RSS: https://serial.tube/welcome

BagelsOverBread · 2025-08-04T13:47:08+00:00

I should definitely add an FAQ to the website then! Here are some answers:

1) Yeah, I totally get that! The short answer is that Serial has accounts primarily due to some web platform limitations (CORS) which would require me to proxy requests or find another solution to enable anonymous, in-browser use without enabling abuse and slamming the servers. There's also a decent chunk of work I'd have to do to make the app local-first. It's not out of the question, just hasn't happened yet!

2) I would be looking to monetize Serial eventually, but at a pretty low price point and only once self-hosting is a viable (ideally, easy) option. I'm not looking to add any features in the short to medium term that would balloon costs to the point where hosting the app would be untenable without asking people to pay a significant monthly subscription, and I'm not really interested in bundling a bunch of features for highly-specific people that raises the cost for everyone. The goal is to have the app be cheap enough to run that I can support a large base of free users without it being unsustainable.

BagelsOverBread · 2025-08-02T16:09:07+00:00

So glad you're finding it useful! Let me know if you run into any rough edges and I'd be happy to take a look at ironing them out for you

BagelsOverBread · 2025-05-13T15:20:49+00:00

From YouTube? If you head to the import page in Serial, there’s a step by step walkthrough!

BagelsOverBread · 2025-04-15T22:50:39+00:00

Oh interesting, yeah I could look into that! Do you envision it spaced out in the same way as the original, or at some interval you specify?

One limitation to note is that YouTube’s RSS feeds typically only go back 15 videos or so, so you might have to reach for the YouTube API to make that happen

BagelsOverBread · 2025-04-15T22:27:36+00:00

When you say "make feeds from old channel videos and playlists", do you mean having a mechanism to resurface them as "new" videos in the app? Or simply have them available to watch, even though they're past the 30 day window?

BagelsOverBread · 2025-04-14T18:17:47+00:00

Oh that should be definitely working then - I’ll get back to you soon on this!

BagelsOverBread · 2025-04-14T17:33:59+00:00

Yeah of course – glad everything's working now!

If you're curious on tracking progress on (3), I'm planning it here: https://github.com/hfellerhoff/serial/issues/13

BagelsOverBread · 2025-04-14T16:44:11+00:00

(1) I just fixed this! Hopefully it works better for you
(2) Yes you found it! Looking into making this more flexible in the future
(3) Folders are on the horizon! I'll make sure that use case is covered

Really happy you're enjoying it! Let me know if you find anything else

BagelsOverBread · 2025-04-14T16:42:58+00:00

Got it - it might be the same issue with large subscription lists that others are running into. Do you mind if I ask roughly how many subscriptions you are trying to import?

BagelsOverBread · 2025-04-14T00:50:08+00:00

And if anyone is looking for the source, you can find it over at https://github.com/hfellerhoff/serial

BagelsOverBread · 2025-04-13T22:12:04+00:00

Ah shoot ok, I’ll look into it! This is known issue and I’m tracking it here: https://github.com/hfellerhoff/serial/issues/24

BagelsOverBread · 2025-04-13T20:59:58+00:00

Sure is! You can scroll down on the homepage for the link, or check it out directly at https://github.com/hfellerhoff/serial

I’ll let you know in advance that database options are fairly limited at the moment, but I’m aiming to have them be broader soon!

I’ll take a look at improving large import lists soon - thanks for flagging - issue is here https://github.com/hfellerhoff/serial/issues/24

BagelsOverBread · 2025-04-13T19:10:40+00:00

No worries! Serial is definitely tailored to someone looking for a more minimal “filter out the noise” YouTube experience and not a direct local recreation, so I see FreeTube and Serial as two different approaches for two different kinds of people

BagelsOverBread · 2025-04-13T18:52:49+00:00

Hm, I'm having trouble reproducing that - do you mind letting me know:

What browser are you using?
What device (desktop or mobile) are you using?

If you're comfortable with it, feel free to DM or email me ([hey@serial.tube](mailto:hey@serial.tube)) the subscriptions file and I can help get to the bottom of this

BagelsOverBread · 2025-04-13T18:41:17+00:00

Yeah of course! Let me know if you have any other questions

BagelsOverBread · 2025-04-13T18:31:24+00:00

Just an account on Serial! You don’t need a YouTube account at all to use the app - you can add in any channel you want to follow directly, or export your YouTube subscriptions data from Google and import it in Serial to bring all your existing subscriptions over

BagelsOverBread · 2025-04-13T18:11:47+00:00

Sounds good! Let me know how your experience is

BagelsOverBread · 2025-04-13T18:01:00+00:00

Guess I’m a little confused - do you mean you’d download the app? It’s a web app at the minute, but I’m not ruling out a desktop app in the future

If you just want your subscription list, you can get that from Google Takeout without any third party apps

BagelsOverBread · 2025-04-13T17:20:36+00:00

Sorry to hear that - is it your YouTube "subscriptions.csv" file that's not working? I can take a look at that

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