Video Classifications done by our extension
AI Classification in Progress
Notes on a particular video
Dashboard
Classification categories with toggle switch
Comment Section Disabled
Extension Chrome Pop-up window
Greyscale video playback and notes taking UI with toggle button to switch to color
Notes Section in Dashboard
Shorts Blocked if shorts block shield is activated
Shorts visible in greyscale if shorts block shield is deactivated with option to convert to color

StudyTube

Learn Without the Distractions

YouTube is a goldmine of knowledge. Why does finding it sometimes cost us our focus?

The Problem We Experienced

We are two Computer Science students who use YouTube almost every day to learn.

Whether it is understanding a complex DSA problem, exploring machine learning, learning a new framework, or watching a programming tutorial, YouTube has been one of our most valuable learning resources.

But we kept running into the same problem.

We would open YouTube with a clear goal: watch one tutorial and get back to work.

Then came the recommendations. An interesting thumbnail. A trending video. A YouTube Short that looked harmless.

One video turned into five. A quick break became half an hour. And the tutorial we originally came for? Sometimes, we never finished it.

The irony was hard to ignore: the platform we relied on to learn was also competing for our attention.

Why Not Just Block YouTube?

We considered the obvious solution: block YouTube entirely.

But that would mean losing access to the very resource we needed. Traditional website blockers treat the entire platform as a distraction, even when we are using it productively.

We didn't want less access to knowledge. We wanted less exposure to distractions.

That distinction became the foundation of StudyTube.

Introducing StudyTube

StudyTube is a Chrome extension that helps users take control of their YouTube experience without sacrificing access to educational content.

Using AI-powered video classification, StudyTube identifies content across 12 customizable categories and lets users decide which categories they want to see.

Instead of forcing users away from YouTube, it makes the distracting parts less intrusive.

What We Built

AI-Powered Classification — Classifies video titles into content categories using a locally running LLM through Ollama.
Customizable Filtering — Lets users enable or disable categories according to their goals.
Distraction Reduction — Grayscales distracting thumbnails and can obscure recommendations.
Shorts Control — Blocks mindless Shorts scrolling.
Watch Anyway — Allows users to reveal blocked content and make their own decisions.
Local Caching — Stores classification results to reduce repeated inference and improve efficiency.

Our Philosophy

We don't believe every entertaining video is a waste of time. Nor do we believe software should dictate what people are allowed to watch.

The problem is not entertainment itself. It is the gap between what we intend to do and what we end up doing.

StudyTube is designed to introduce a little friction between an impulse and an action, while keeping the user in control.

Why This Matters to Us

We built StudyTube to solve a problem we experienced ourselves as students. It started with our own struggle to balance learning and distraction, but the idea extends to anyone who wants to use YouTube more intentionally.

We believe productivity tools should not force people to disconnect from useful resources. They should help people use those resources on their own terms.