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All Things Appy: Top 5 Free Video Streaming Tools for Firefox

Despite the convenience of mobile devices, the desktop browser can offer the most satisfying video experience. This is partly due to the copious screen real-estate and processor power. In addition, however, Firefox has a long history of solid video-related add-ons including search, downloaders, replayers and bookmarking apps.

In today’s All Things Appy, TechNewsWorld takes a look at the top five must-have free video streaming and downloading add-on tools for your desktop Firefox browser.

About the Platform: Perform a search for the add-on that you want in the Search box in the Mozilla’s Firefox Add-Ons browser page, or browse and select the add-on.

Note that add-ons can be called extensions when they have been installed.

No. 1: Video Resumer

Video Resumer has 5 stars out of 5 from 11 user reviews in Firefox’s add-ons library. The add-on has a total of 24,106 users.

If you’ve been streaming YouTube videos, you’ll know that pausing the video midstream then closing the Firefox tab causes the video to re-start when you go back to it later.

Well, Appteligent’s Video Resumer extension automatically resumes YouTube videos from where you left off. There’s no more guessing where you got to. Simple, brilliant stuff and a great example of the power of the browser add-on.

No. 2: Video DownloadHelper

Video DownloadHelper has 4 stars out of 5 from 3,896 user reviews in Firefox’s add-ons library. The add-on has a total of 6,499,682 users.

This app allows you to surf the usual suspects, like YouTube, and download the videos to your hard drive. Built-in conversion settings format the video — along with specific resolution settings — for transferring to your preferred mobile device. This is a superb tool for picky mobile devices.

There are a few of this kind of video downloading tools available. We also like 1-Click YouTube Video Download for its simple on-Web page download button, by the way, but Video DownloadHelper is by far the most popular, so give it a shot first.

No. 3: Video Bookmarks

Video Bookmarks has 5 stars out of 5 from nine user reviews in Firefox’s add-ons library. The add-on has a total of 1,984 users.

This tool connects you to myVidster, a service that ostensibly allows you to collect videos from around the Web and collate them into an album-like collection for sharing with friends. However, what it also does is bookmark your collection from multiple sources, making it easy to return to individual or sets of videos cross video service.

Facebook and Twitter connections plus additional backup options are available too.

No. 4: YouTube Video Replay

YouTube Video Replay has 4 stars out of 5 from 27 user reviews in Firefox’s add-ons library. The add-on has a total of 13,281 users.

This app provides a Replay button on the YouTube video page. Simply press “Replay” and the video you were watching reloads and plays again — and again. It’s great for short videos or how-to videos in the workshop or kitchen when your video-controlling hands aren’t available.

No. 5: YouTube by Ditman

The YouTube search tool by Ditman has 5 stars out of 5 from 87 user reviews in Firefox’s add-ons library. The add-on has 2,145 weekly downloads.

This search add-on inserts a YouTube search option into the browser’s navigation bar search box.

Instead of opening a browser tab and performing a YouTube search, you can look for video content along with suggestions from within the navigation bar — no need to log into YouTube.

Want to Suggest an Apps Collection?

Is there a batch of apps you’d like to suggest for review? Remember, they must all be for the same platform, and they must all be geared toward the same general purpose. Please send the names of five or more apps to me, and I’ll consider them for a future All Things Appy column.

Don’t forget to use the Talkback feature below to add your comments.

Patrick Nelson has been a professional writer since 1992. He was editor and publisher of the music industry trade publication Producer Report and has written for a number of technology blogs. Nelson studied design at Hornsey Art School and wrote the cult-classic novel Sprawlism. His introduction to technology was as a nomadic talent scout in the eighties, where regular scrabbling around under hotel room beds was necessary to connect modems with alligator clips to hotel telephone wiring to get a fax out. He tasted down and dirty technology, and never looked back.

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