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Karaoke Tube

Karaoke parties where everyone's phone is the remote.

Try it live
The TV screen before a song: an avatar, the singer's name, the song title and a countdown, with a join code in the corner.
The queue on a phone: the song now singing, then the next songs in rotation, each with the singer's name.

What it is

Karaoke Tube is a karaoke party you run from your phones. Put the TV screen on, share a code, and everyone joins and picks songs from YouTube's karaoke videos.

It's free, there's nothing to install, and you don't need an account (accounts are optional). It works in English and Spanish.

Why I built it

Motivation

I've always loved doing karaoke with friends and family. Some of my favorite nights have been spent laughing, singing badly, and cheering each other on. But the setup could be a bit clunky. We'd pause for a minute between songs while someone found the next one, nobody really knew who was up next, and as the host I was always keeping track of the order and trying to keep things fair.

I wanted everyone to just enjoy the party, me included. So I built Karaoke Tube: everyone adds songs from their own phone, singers take turns, and the next song starts on its own. Now the host gets to sing too.

How a party works

  1. The TV screen waiting for singers, with a big QR code, the party name and a Start party button.

    1Open it on the TV

    One screen, one code. That's the whole setup.

  2. A phone with a song's options open: who sings it, and an Add to queue button.

    2Everyone joins by phone

    Scan the QR, pick a silly avatar and a name, and add songs. No app, no sign-up.

  3. The queue on a phone: the song now singing, then songs from different singers in rotation.

    3Take turns, fairly

    One song per singer per round. Nobody waits forever, and nobody hogs the mic.

What each part does

The TV

Before each song, the TV shows whose turn it is and counts you in, so you have a moment to grab the mic. The join code shows up between songs, so late arrivals can hop in.

The TV screen before a song: an avatar, the singer's name, the song title and a countdown.

Joining

Pick a look, type a nickname, and you're in. Everyone shows up on the TV with their avatar.

The join screen on a phone: an avatar, a party code field and a nickname field.

Finding songs

Browse by genre, see what's popular in the room, or search for anything. Tap a song to add it.

The phone home screen: genre chips, song tiles, a Popular in this room row and a bar showing who is up now.

The host's view

Everything in one place: the code, who's here, and the queue. Drag songs to reorder them, remove them, skip or pause, and let the music run.

The host screen: the party code and QR, the list of guests, a grid of songs and the queue on the right.

Host settings

Choose how turns work: rotation, first come first served, or you pick. Limit how many songs each person can queue, lock the party, and turn on reactions, duets and group songs.

The host settings: queue order, songs waiting per guest, lock the party, reactions and party fun options.

A few tricky parts

  • One room, three screens

    Every party is its own little room that keeps the phones, the host and the TV in sync in real time. I built each room as a Cloudflare Durable Object, so there is one place that knows the queue and whose turn it is.

  • Only about 100 searches a day

    YouTube's free search limit is small, so I save results: searches for a week and videos for a month. Repeat searches cost nothing, and if the limit runs out you can still paste a link.

  • Fair turns, no arguments

    The queue runs in rounds, one song per singer, with a limit on how many songs each person can have waiting. The host can still reorder anything. If a video can't be played in an embed, the app skips it and moves on.

Technologies

  • React and Vite

    Fast screens for phones, the host and the TV, all in one web app.

  • Hono on Cloudflare Workers

    A small, quick API that also serves the website.

  • Durable Objects

    One per party, so every screen sees the same queue.

  • Cloudflare KV

    Remembers YouTube searches so the daily limit lasts.

  • YouTube Data API and player

    Searches for karaoke videos and plays them on the TV.

  • TypeScript

    The app and the API share the same types, so they stay in step.