Alleycat Player v1a

Pick a Proxy:  xyss5.herokuapp.com * fathomless-cliffs-85079.herokuapp.com * cors-anywhere.herokuapp.com bypasscors.herokuapp.com api.allorigins.win Local Proxy Server (Kraker) None    Go to Site list or Movie sites or TV & Radio

Install the Local Proxy Server app which is available here. The current version name is "kraker-1b".

Alleycat Player supports playback of HLS/m3u8 and DASH/mpd videos via these two modules (whitelist accordingly):

cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/hls.js@latest
reference.dashif.org/dash.js/v2.5.0/dist/dash.all.min.js

Why the name change from "Youtube Player"?

The reason for the name change is that "Youtube Player" is, of course, a violation of YouTube's trademark. Also, the tool has moved far beyond simply being a player for Youtube videos. A name change only makes sense. The name comes from an old project I started in 1981 called "Alleycat BBS". This is of nostalgic value to me.

The Alleycat BBS (Bulletin Board System) has disappeared into the fog of history. Nothing can be found about it in any archive. It was small with just 200 to 300 users. The computer which hosted it was also small. It was an Ohio Scientific Superboard with 8K of memory (later upgraded), a one-Mhz 6502 CPU and a 300-baud modem with a home-made phone pickup device. The code was written with a home-brew OS and a very basic machine code assembler. The service ran for three years and enjoyed a solid reputation. The name "Alleycat" was fondly regarded and, no doubt, persists in the minds of its former users. It seems only fitting to bring the name back to life.

Release notes (December 7, 2019):

• The Youtube scraper has been updated. The code now supports client-generated signatures. Significant issues with the reliability of the Invidious instances has made this update necessary. It is true that this work should have been already done but I opted to support Invidious instead. Turns out to be not such a smart move (slapping myself). In the absence of region-locking or DRM or other YouTube shenanigans, the revised scraper has a success rate of nearly 100%. Genyoutube, Y2meta and Invidious are available as last resort. Live streaming is not (yet) supported. Invidious will continue to be used for that but only "invidio.us" and "invidious.snopyta.org" currently support live streams.
• If you have already installed the Local Proxy Server (Kraker) then all you need for version 1b is the file "proxy.js". This update is needed for DailyMotion. Other sites should work correctly with the original version.
• Added sites: StreamLord
• Removed sites: PornHub
• Updated: Genyoutube, DailyMotion (now m3u8), SoundCloud, PressTV, Bloomberg, ClipWatching, OnlyStream, AudioRealm.
• Two radio stations stopped working and have been removed.
• Updated TV links: Zougla TV, Newfoundland TV
• Removed TV links: ZU Radio, Rede Minas (Brazil), TF1 (France)
• "Out of Focus TV" was down for a while and is again available.
• These are currently off-line but expected to return: DanceStar TV, StarGaze Musik, Sunburn TV, Runway TV, Xcorps TV, West Ohio Sports Network, Scream Fest, Orbit TV (Dominican Republic), Canal Capital (Colombia), Angel TV (India)
• Around the end of November, the "savitar.tv" sources went through a series of updates and reversals. The only thing that has changed in the end is that "savitar.tv" is now "ustv.to". While the feeds are still only 360p, the bitrate seems to be better.
• Vidnode has been updated to include mp4 download links via the DLoad button. The site works best with the Local Proxy Server since the m3u8 format will not work otherwise. Without the proxy, Alleycat will play mp4 but a CORS unblocker is required. Note that mp4 is sometimes unavailable or may stream poorly.

Tips on using Alleycat Player -- these instructions are not meant to be complete. Alleycat Player is primarily designed as a hacking tool. Please experiment to determine the limits and capabilities of the tool.

The original purpose of this tool was to support backdoor access to videos on YouTube for the purpose of downloading or for transferring the URL of a video file to an external viewer for playback. The tool has expanded considerably since the first version and it now supports backdoor access to videos on almost 50 different sites.

There are two ways to play videos embedded in web sites. The first method is to get the ID number of the video if such is available. Enter the ID number in the line below the "Play ID" button and press. The second method is to use the DIG option. In this case, you would copy and paste the URL of a web page in the line beside the "DIG" button and press. For some sites, Alleycat will search the indicated page for the ID number of a video and then apply the ID lookup function. Some sites do not employ video ID numbers so the DIG option is the only way to get the video. Many web sites can be problematic due to small or major differences in page design so this may not always work. Also, sites may sometimes change the page format so that Alleycat can no longer find the video. For this reason, the code is continuously being tested and will be updated accordingly.

A complete URL may be entered as the ID number with the caveat that the ID must be the last part of the URL. If a slash (/) or a dot (.) appears within the last 5 characters (like ".html") then the string will be truncated. A character count is used to separate the ID from the rest of the URL. For YouTube, an ID is always exactly 11 characters. For some sites, there is a small range like from 6 to 8 characters. In the event that a known good ID number is rejected, you can force the ID to be accepted by preceding it with an asterisk (*). This is seldom necessary but might be needed for very old videos.

In many cases, you have the option of choosing the resolution of the video. The format/resolution selection box has an odd appearance due to Alleycat's original purpose of extracting YouTube videos. YouTube, unlike every other video storage site, uses its own special coding system for resolutions and formats (because it has so many). For example, #22 refers to mp4-720p and #43 refers to webm-360p. Note that the webm format is only available on YouTube. The checkbox called "Format" applies to m3u8 playback (not mp4 or mpd). If checked, the video track for the desired resolution will be extracted from the master m3u8. Note that this cannot be done if the master file contains an audio track separate from the video.

The button called DLoad is for m3u8 sites. Both the "No Play" and the "Format" options must be checked. The m3u8 format (similar to m3u used for mp3) consists of multiple segments, each about 10 seconds long. In order to convert to another format like mp4, each of these segments must be downloaded. The DLoad button will open a new window with the list of segments. This has limited functionality. You can change the list format to text by changing the value of the variable called "plain_text" inside the Alleycat Player code. At some point, I'll figure out what more I can do with this.

Viewer modes: Raw / Wrapper / Sandbox

Sandboxing (implemented via the HTML iframe tag) is employed by Alleycat Player to prevent Javascript embeds from opening windows or popups for advertising. Some pirate video download sites are unsafe when used without a good popup blocker. However, if you play the URL inside Alleycat Player, these popups are very effectively blocked. Any URL may be inserted, not just videos. The native viewers are sandboxed by default. However, if you employ a window option to open the URL, you need to indicate that you want the window to be sandboxed. Just check the Sandbox option. If you don't want a sandbox but you want to run a non-video URL then check the Raw option. In the default Wrapper mode, there are three selectable options: Wrapper for playing mp4/ogv/webm videos (or whatever video format your web browser supports), M3U8 for HLS/m3u8 files and DASH for DASH/mpd files.

Web browser compatibility notes

Microsoft Edge has native support for m3u8 and mpd. This does not conflict with Alleycat Player. Videos have a strong tendency to pixelate badly. Google Chrome and Brave also have issues with pixelation but to a much lesser extent. Firefox has no such issue. Opera, Maxthon and Vivaldi were briefly tested. They work but pop-up windows do not size correctly.

If the "Allow Multiple" option is not checked, windows are supposed to get re-used or closed as needed. However, I have found two cases where the web browser incorrectly blocks the window close function in Alleycat Player. Edge does not allow a window opened in Raw mode to be closed. Firefox (on Win10 but not on WinXP) blocks in Raw mode if the window is controlled by an extension (such as for m3u8/mpd playback).

Always keep in mind that browsers contain various "security" features that may interfere with Alleycat Player. Consider that Alleycat is able to extract video links from numerous different sites. Your browser has no idea what is trustworthy and what is not (even though the content is just a video). You may need to battle with the site blockers in the browser itself and in whatever add-ons or extensions you may have. Don't blame Alleycat. Your browser is just trying to "protect" you. Normally, a notice of some sort should appear to warn you about blockage. Sometimes not. If a video does not play, check the settings in your web browser or pop-up blocker. 'Nuff said. It isn't too bad overall.

Addendum: Microsoft Edge is hopelessly broken. Videos play with only sound because Edge does not support the CSS filters used for the brightness control. Also, Edge is not allowing connections to the local host (might be an option somewhere but I can't be bothered to find it). To repair the no-video problem, find and comment out this line of code:

vid.style.filter = "brightness(" + lvl + ") contrast(" + con + ") saturate(" + sat + ")";

Special Notes

• Alleycat Player must be saved to your local drive. If you run Alleycat from its download site, it can fail in mysterious ways. The culprit is the HTTP header "Referer" (set by the web browser) which can cause videos to not play. These sites are affected: BitChute, DailyMotion, XHamster.
• Internet TV (IPTV) channels are subject to downtime of a few hours or a day or a week or even forever. Many of the channel links offered here can be found via the associated website. If a channel goes down and you want to recover it then search for the website and extract a fresh link from there. Pirate links are, of course, not easily replaced.
• Internet TV channels marked with a double asterisk (**) are only accessible with the Local Proxy Server. Those marked with a single asterisk (*) are playable with a CORS unblocker.
• Internet TV channels which are streamed via "ustv.to" usually are only accessible with the Local Proxy Server. This is because the sources (ustv247.tv, ustvgo.tv, watchnews.tv) typically employ a bot blocker which presumably is meant to block DDOS attacks. When the bot blocker is not up then the sites are accessible with a CORS unblocker or remote proxy.
• Only two Invidious sites support live streaming: "invidio.us" and "invidious.snopyta.org".
• Brighteon videos will play with the Local Proxy Server and also with the two remote proxies marked with an asterisk.
• InfoWars videos play as m3u8 but the mp4 version is available via the DLoad button.
• The above is also true for Vidnode but you need the Local Proxy Server to play m3u8. If you are not using the proxy then Alleycat will play an mp4 if it is available but you still need a CORS unblocker.

Sites accessible with a Brightcove DIG:
 - https://www.stuff.co.nz
 - https://www.nzherald.co.nz
 - https://www.miamiherald.com
 - https://time.com
 - https://www.itv.com/goodmorningbritain
 - https://www.thesun.co.uk
 - https://www.channel4.com/news
 - http://webtv.un.org
 - https://www.express.co.uk

Sites accessible with a Podcasts DIG:
 - https://podcasts.apple.com
 - https://itunes.apple.com
 - https://www.stitcher.com
 - https://radiopublic.com
 - https://overcast.fm
 - https://www.podbean.com
 - https://www.spreaker.com

There are three symbols used to indicate the options available for a particular site. [#] means no DIG option because the video ID is always exposed. [?] means that video ID numbers are not available (you have to DIG). [+] means that both ID numbers and the DIG option are supported.

Here is a rundown of each site, the available video formats and the site URL (link will open a new tab or window):

Site List -- Go to Info viewer or News viewer or Movie viewer

? = unknown or auto-select (m3u8/mpd)
* = user selectable (via format box)
! = use the Sandbox option to embed the video.
KRAK = only accessible with the Local Proxy Server (Kraker)
CORS = only accessible with a CORS unblocker (or Kraker)

Movie Sites -- Go to Movie viewer or Info/News

! on a site url = use caution on these sites due to popup ads
! on Proxy or CORS = use the Sandbox option to embed the video.

Note that quality level (example: [720]) may not be the same as resolution.

These sites are supported under XStream:

www.fembed.com
streamhoe.online
myvidis.top

These sites are supported under "General DIG":

www.lunchflix.com (GoUnlimited)
watchmoviesfree.org (XStream)
antmovies.tv (XStream)

Some search sites to get video links from:

ololo.to
www1.swatchseries.to
www.downloads-anymovies.com
www2.project-free-tv.ag
www.watchepisodes4.com
streamdreams.org
www.online-movies-free.com
www.cinebloom.org
www.primewire.li
two-movies.me

If you want to play embedded videos, make sure that you use the proper embed URL.

For example:

Internet TV

In order to facilitate channel surfing, a new feature has been added. Check the option "Allow Multiple" to activate. This will present the stack as buttons displayed on top of the viewer. Along with that are 12 buttons for previously selected channels. The "Copy" button will show and hide the popup. Also, pausing the video (not in full-screen) will show the popup. You can click a blank entry to hide. All viewers have this feature.

Some channels have two stream sources. This is indicated with a plus sign (+) after the channel name. A double plus indicates that the streams are from different local stations. Select "webm" in the format panel to access the secondary channel.

Internet Radio

You can input your own URL for either an mp4 or an mp3 or whatever your browser supports. To play a YouTube video in audio-only mode, just enter the 11-character video id.

To find some radio station URLs, you can use the AudioRealm DIG tool supplied with the Movie viewer. Also supplied is a stack with links to iHeartRadio and Virtual DJ. These will pop up a window with an embedded web site.

Info + Entertainment  --  Go to News viewer or Site list   |   snap   -  Lightest Light Lighter Normal Darker Dark Darkest Brightness  -  Highest High Higher Normal Lower Low Lowest Saturation  -  Youtube.com Genyoutube.net Y2meta.net invidio.us invidious.snopyta.org watch.nettohikari.com

Play URL Copy DIG 

Stack 1 Stack 2 Stack 3   BitChute Vimeo InfoWars Misc

News & Propaganda  --  Go to Info viewer or Site list   |   snap   -  Lightest Light Lighter Normal Darker Dark Darkest Brightness  -  Highest High Higher Normal Lower Low Lowest Saturation  -  Youtube.com Genyoutube.net Y2meta.net invidio.us invidious.snopyta.org watch.nettohikari.com

Play URL Copy DIG 

Stack 1 Stack 2 Stack 3   Fox PBS BBC

FREE Movies & TV  --  Go to Movie Sites or Info/News   |   snap   -  Lightest Light Lighter Normal Darker Dark Darkest Brightness  -  Highest High Higher Normal Lower Low Lowest Saturation  -  Youtube.com Genyoutube.net Y2meta.net invidio.us invidious.snopyta.org

Play URL Copy DIG 

Radio Dance   TV US1 TV US2 TV US3   TV UK+ TV Alt   Int'l 1 Int'l 2

Internet Radio