TLDW - Too Long Didn't Watch

About

TLDW - Too Long Didn't Watch is a Chrome extension designed to enhance the YouTube viewing experience by providing concise summaries of video content. This clever tool is perfect for users who want to quickly grasp the key points of a video without watching it in its entirety.

Key features of TLDW include:

1. Automatic Transcript Extraction: The extension intelligently locates and extracts the transcript from YouTube videos, even when it's not immediately visible.

2. AI-Powered Summarization: Using OpenAI's GPT-4o-mini model, TLDW generates a TLDR (Too Long; Didn't Read) summary of the video's content, highlighting the main points and key takeaways.

3. User-Friendly Interface: The extension opens in a side panel, allowing users to view the summary without leaving the YouTube page.

4. Progress Tracking: A step-by-step progress indicator keeps users informed about the summarization process.

5. Cost Transparency: The extension displays the estimated API cost for each summary, helping users manage their API usage.

6. /!\ API Integration: Users must input their own OpenAI API key, giving them control over their API usage and billing. 

7. Instant Accessibility: The extension can be easily activated by clicking its icon when on a YouTube video page.

8. **NEW** Tutorial Mode: A simple check box that will output a clear step by step tutorial from the video.

TLDW is perfect for researchers, students, professionals, or anyone who needs to quickly assess the content of YouTube videos without investing the time to watch them in full. It's an ideal tool for efficient information gathering, content research, or simply deciding whether a video is worth watching in its entirety.

By providing bullet-pointed summaries and main takeaways, TLDW ensures users can quickly grasp the essence of any YouTube video, saving time and improving productivity in our content-rich digital world.

Change log:

11/1/2024 v1.1
- Added light theme
- Improved UI

4/20/2025 v1.2
- Added settings tab accessible by clicking the cog on the top left.
- 3 different AI providers and 6 different models
- Removed API key field, now in the settings tab
- Added a chat function to ask more details about the video
- Added a "Tutorial mode" check box
- Current AI model in use is displayed on the right hand side of the "Go!" button.
- Improvement: reloading the youtube page is not needed anymore for the extension to work
- Various bug fixes