Review: Using Youtube Mobile on the Nokia N95

September 5th, 2007 • Mark Guim • Filed Under •

I love Youtube. I also love my Nokia N95. So when I realized that there’s a Youtube mobile site ((http://m.youtube.com), I had to test it out on my N95 to see how the usage experience is. In the end, I think accessing the mobile site is better than going to the Video Centre application, but having a good experience also requires good broadband connection. Read the rest of my review.

To watch Youtube videos on your Nokia phone, you can either go to the Video Center application, or go to the Youtube mobile site on your browser. My review compares the two methods.

M.youTube.com Youtube Video Centre
m.YouTube.com versus YouTube on Video Centre

Video Centre vs. m.Youtube.com

Videos MenuContent. Compared to Video Centre, the Youtube mobile site offers a lot more videos. Main menu lets you navigate to the same videos on the regular site that are featured, recently added, most viewed, top rated, or top favorites. other categories include People, Entertainment, and Grab Bag. I’m not sure how they determine what videos go in the last three categories. I think Grab Bag might stand for random videos, but don’t quote me on that.

Descriptions. What I like about the mobile site is that you can read the descriptions of the videos before you watch it. In Video Centre, you can only view the titles. Sometimes the titles are even too long, you have to wait for it to scroll left.

Video Description
Video descriptions lets you know what you are going to watch.

Watching the Youtube Videos

To watch the videos, you can click on the video thumbnail in Video Centre or click “Watch Video” in the mobile site. Both results in the RealPlayer application to play the video. If you are connected through a fast connection such as Wi-Fi, video plays instantaneously. I don’t even want to try watching a video with my slow Edge connection on T-mobile. For those with AT&T US 3G, the Nokia N95 8GB will yield better results away from a WiFi connection.

Media Keys. With the Nokia N95, slide over the phone to reveal the dedicated media keys so you can fast forward or rewind the videos. Pretty cool!

Nokia N95 8GB
Dedicated media keys lets you go forward or back with videos.

Complaints

My problem with the m.Youtube.com mobile site, is that not all videos in the Youtube catalog is available to the mobile site. For example, the Nokia blog YouTube videos are not accessible in the mobile site.

Another annoying problem is after closing the videos, I get a message asking me to save the videos. The point of YouTube is not having to save videos, but if you decide to save the video, it tells you that it is added to the Gallery. The videos I saved are nowhere to be found in the Gallery.

Conclusion

I think m.Youtube.com is a better way to watch YouTube videos on my Nokia N95 than using the Video Centre application, but it is still not perfect.

  • Pros: More videos than Video Centre. Includes descriptions.
  • Cons: Not all Youtube videos are available. Annoying “save me” question when closing videos.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

  • Very cool, the N95 is my consumer's dream. I will get one soon!
  • Tom
    guys i have the nokia 5800 and i have the same problem , i can't watch youtube via wifi
    and my router settings are ok
    i know it's the wrong place to go but there is no site for the 5800 youtube conflict
    any help ?
  • Carlo (italy)
    ...If your phone isn't playing any videos while you're on WiFi, the WiFi connection might not allow RTSP streaming traffic...FROM YOUTUBE SUPPORT SITE...

    Conclusion:
    In realplayer - streaming settings, you are able to select two UDP port. You must configure router and forward these two ports to the IP address(smartphone) or enable DMZ on the router.
  • flip
    just saw the comment above me which explains how to get it to work that I some how missed it. lol.
  • flip
    Hi there.I'm having the same problem, getting connection time out, but I found out a way to fix it, which it worked for me.

    Go to real player, settings, then streaming and turn off proxy and it should work.
  • Was having trouble. Turned off "use proxy" under Settings on Real Player. Worked instantly on Vivo 3G at São Paulo, Brasil. Very very very cool!
  • Ufuk D.
    Hi

    İ'm also having the same problems with streaming youtube on my N95 original model not 8 gb. İ tried all the firmwares. İ'm up to the latest 30 version now. A friend of mine has the same phone. On his phone everything is set to standard settings of the phone and he can watch youtube but mine doesn't. İ tried the router settings trich, and that didn't work either. İ tried all the tricks mentıoned on this page, nothing works. What can i do more in order to get this working. İ can watch on desktop version though but the video ıs too big for the screen then. I want to watch in normal versıon for the phone intented. My friend watches videos in full screen. I'm getting fed up wıth thıs phone. I thought ı was the only one untıl ı got on thıs page. Way to go Nokıa!!! :(
  • Charlie
    just to let people knoq for a fact what to do and to thank vishnu as his answer is the one!!! its definatly this....

    vishnu on 21 September 2008:

    Hi,

    I was having the same problem.
    I fixed mine though.

    It is down to the rtsp (real time streaming protocol)port which is 554.

    If you set on your mobile
    lowest udp port:6970
    Highest udp port:6999

    Then on your home router set up port range triggering/fowrding so that

    port (554 to 554) is forwaded to port (6970 to 6999)

    to find port fowarding/trigger you need to type your router ip adress into your webbrowser adress bar its usually 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1

    if you go to start then run and type cmd the enter when the black box apears (dos prompt) type ipconfig then enter. this will tell you your router address if you do not know it!

    Also i only needed to specify a single port i.e 544 i did not need to put 544 -544 but some poeple will.

    Also i used this range 6970 - 32000
    this means your phones original settings will work fine!!! aslongs as proxy is off lol but i think that has been stated enough!! the main thing is the port forwarding on your router!!!
  • lisa
    hya can get youtube on my n95 8gb but when i try n play the vids its either a distorted screen or its in green please help
  • t
    yes my phone is e66 got the same issue, i only can view youtube video from desktop version :(
  • Z3N
    Hello I have the answer. My N95 is the 8gb updated with v30. I am unsure if the model & firmware need to match mine but here is the answer to the server timeout problem. instead of clicking on the thumbnail or "watch video" scroll down to the bottom and find desktop version. Click this. The End. :)
  • vishnu
    Hi,

    I was having the same problem.
    I fixed mine though.

    It is down to the rtsp (real time streaming protocol)port which is 554.

    If you set on your mobile
    lowest udp port:6970
    Highest udp port:6999

    Then on your home router set up port range triggering/fowrding so that

    port (554 to 554) is forwaded to port (6970 to 6999)

    I did this on my linksys router and now youtube and streaming video now works great on my Nokia E71

    Richard
  • Ronison
    Great! Youtube working fine now! I just config AP triggering port and ALL WORKS.
  • Mushhood
    My N95 8GB has the same problem. However I agree with Daniel this problem is router centric. I took the phone to NJ and there at a friends place this same phone was streaming videos without any problems. Even while in transit at the airport the phone would play youtube videos just fine.

    Now that i'm back home using my Wifi it gives me the same server timeout error. So later today i'm going to start tinkering with my wireless router to figure out its UDP settings (You can specify the highest and lowest UDP ports in real player settings).

    Maybe the range for these fields needs to be increased. I'll be checking my router settings to try and figure out the UDP settings on it. Will post here if i can figure it out.
  • Igor Jovanoski
    How that i can whach youtube whith my WiFi on one accespoint ex in town and not att home on my acc. point?
  • Daniel
    by the way the proxy setup automatically in the phone once you do a version upgrade is the one for use with your mobile service provider.. The update process installs this automatically as well as wap etc.. no cause for alarm there.. if you delete or change it just make sure you write it down.. calling most providers later for the info yields little result as you usually don't get anyone who thoroughly understands the fine points.. The way around if you do delete it and can't retrieve the information again is to delete all network access points minus your personal wi-fi settings etc and run the settings wizard in the tools folder again.. The service operator setting are restored as detected when you upgrade the firmware with a sim in.. of course you need to have your usual sim card in the phone while you do it.
  • Daniel
    When you save the feed to gallery via m.youtube.com the file does end up there. have a look in the gallery "streaming links" folder. If there is anyone who has been clever enough to find a fix so that real network can play streaming video through you tube when connected via wi-fi please let us know.. been messing around for ages. :P streams ok via network but not through wi-fi. selected wi-fi point, turned off proxies.. tried everything, I'm thinking this must be router centric but my router supports rtsp and is completely open etc.
  • austin
    to address the "unable to connect to server - time out” issue, change the default internet connection from a wireless network to MediaNet (I have AT&T) by:

    applications|media|realplayer|options|settings
    |streaming|network|default access point|mediaNet

    when you use the youtube application, you can still pick your wireless network to view

    thanks david (15 may 2008) for your help
  • Anz3r
    Hey,

    i have a nokia N95 and i now can watch YOUTUBE!!

    I installed the latest firmware, then went into the realplayer settings and for some reason it was on a proxy?

    Which is weird, since i didnt tell it to go on a proxy?

    It was flashed right before i did this, but anyways, check that on your phones!!!
  • oli
    i can get you tube on my n95 8gb, but how can save the video on my phone. only options i see available is save links, please help.
  • oli
    this phone is long to use, can get to watch any videos e.g youtube or even transferrin it from pc...i'm gettin fed up wid it, tried so many things
  • JuicyJones
    If the above doesn't work an easy solution is to download mobitubia from www.mobitubia.com

    I tried it and all the youtube videos seem to work just fine with this application. also remember when you use the "search engine" in the program it will display 13 or 14 results. You can pull up more if you push the upper right navigation key on your phone. I found that out by accident. Have fun...oh and let me know if this works for you... jj
  • sameer
    solution finaaly!!!!!! its the operater mess if he dosent provide enough bandwith all ull see is "Unable to connect. Server timeout". call the service provider n isist ur connection is slow i know they dont know anything but insist that ur gprs is workin slow very slow.
    here one more trick to check ur bandwith turn on the internet radio if u c songs playin at 32 or 40 kpbs just assume that banwith is low
    tc
  • JuicyJones
    so far I have been only able to watch videos on surfthechannel.com it's not youtube but at least you can see what streaming looks like on your n95 no matter what settings you use. I wonder also is there maybe another player application that can be used with the n95? maybe realplayer is the problem. I will see what I can find and report back later.
  • brooksey
    Thanks to English Chappy - it worked for me. I assume it doesn't matter which connection is used for real player. I just hope o2 don't charge me extra.
blog comments powered by Disqus