What inspired it

We were inspired to make the YouLimit chrome extension because now more then ever there are so many distractions. YouTube is the best free online learning platform but it can also lead you down a rabbit hole of unproductive content if you aren't careful.

What it does

YouLimit hides certain aspect of YouTube that are particularly distracting through several 'Focus Features' however the extension offers flexibility as well. In the Default mode, there are individual toggles to hide the 'Recommended' (home) page, hide 'Shorts' and lastly hide non-educational category videos.

In the Lock In Mode there are two ways to 'Lock In'. Firstly, users can simply toggle the switch to apply all of the above mentioned Focus Features at once.

Secondly, users can set a time limit they wish to lock in for which will also apply all Focus Features, however if the user wants to exit Lock In mode early, they must solve a math problem first as to way to help keep users accountable with their productive time.

How we built it

We used Javascript for primarily handling the backend, CSS for styling, and HTML for the popup window structure. We used the standard framework for creating chrome extensions which required a manifest.js file essentially keeping track of all files, permissions and other necessary info. Additionally, we utilized a youtube API key to handle the hiding of non-educational categories.

Challenges we ran into

We had other goals and features we initially wanted to implement but ran out of time. Additionally we faced difficulty with understanding how to structure the API call to obtain the youtube video metadata so we can hide videos based on non-educational categories.

Additionally we wanted to make the math problem more complicated and interesting but unfortunately did not have enough time.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We completed our MVP and are happy that the functionality is not only practical but actually useful for those who need an extra hand in focusing while studying on youtube. For both of us it was our first hackathon so it was a great time and we're both satisfied with our work.

What we learned

Definitely try to research more prior in order to get more familiar with technology and syntax. Most of our time was spent on learning and understanding frameworks and tools, especially the Youtube API calls.

What's next for YouLimit

We want to look into adding some more features, namely another mode called Leisure Mode where you can set the duration of your break. We also wanted to refactor the code base as well so it's more efficient and streamlined.