PeerTube is a free, decentralized, and federated video platform that was developed as an alternative to centralized platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, etc. It’s part of the Fediverse, a federation of interconnected yet independent servers hosting various social media platforms.
Yesterday, PeerTube’s developers released a major update to the platform, PeerTube 6, so let’s look at the new features.
What’s New in PeerTube 6
PeerTube just released its sixth major version, PeerTube 6, touted as the most ambitious since the introduction of peer-to-peer live streaming, mainly because it incorporates a host of features directly inspired by user suggestions. Here are the most important of them.
Password Protection for Videos: A Long-Awaited Feature
A standout feature in this release is the ability to password-protect videos. This functionality allows creators to offer exclusive content, support educational initiatives, or share videos within a trusted circle.
They can set a single password during the upload or update process, while admins and developers can manage multiple passwords via the REST API, offering greater flexibility in access control.
Introducing Video Storyboards
Another exciting addition is the video storyboard feature. This tool provides a preview of frames when hovering over the video’s progress bar, enhancing the user experience.
However, it’s important to note that storyboards will only be available for new videos uploaded after upgrading to v6 unless admins use a specific command to generate storyboards for older videos.
Upload New Versions of Videos
PeerTube 6 also introduces the ability to upload new versions of existing videos. This feature lets creators update their content while maintaining the original URL, title, comments, and stats. However, it requires trust between videomakers and admins, as it could be misused. Therefore, its availability is at the discretion of platform admins.
Adding Chapters to Videos
Creators can now add chapters to their videos, making it easier for viewers to navigate through the content. This feature is handy when importing videos from other platforms, as PeerTube can automatically recognize and import existing chapters.
Performance Enhancements and Stress Tests
Following a successful stress test with over 400 simultaneous viewers last year, PeerTube plans to conduct more tests simulating up to a thousand users.
These tests aim to identify performance bottlenecks and optimize server configurations. The v6 update includes several technical improvements to enhance performance, such as optimizing SQL queries and adding the ability to turn off HTTP logs.
Technical and Accessibility Improvements
Lastly, PeerTube 6 also addresses technical debt by removing support for WebTorrent in favor of HLS (with WebRTC P2P), which better suits the platform’s direction. Additionally, the video player has been optimized for efficiency, and accessibility improvements have been made to cater to disabled users.
For detailed information about all changes in PeerTube 6, refer to the announcement or check the full changelog.
