iTransmogrify - Translates Embedded Flash Content

[patrickj]

Has everybody checked out iTransmogrify today? It's a pretty slick new bookmarklet that:
transforms embedded Flash content into direct links to natively supported formats. That means YouTube videos and MP3s can now be played from the iPhone’s Safari web browser with just a few clicks.
Info and bookmarklet details are at:
http://joemaller.com/2008/01/12/itransmogrify/

[psylichon]

Yeah I've been using it. You have to bookmark it with your desktop browser and sync it to your iPhone, but when you do, it really works! Very very cool...

... so feel free to embed away with your youtube clips, folks! It's funny, I was just requesting this very sort of thing from Chris just a few days ago....

[Rockky]

I'm a bit of a techi nitwit but......... I have safari browser on my windows xp and cant get the itransmogrify to drag to the bookmark tab..........any way to do it any other way?!

[psylichon]

Safari on XP? You mean Firefox? I use that as my main browser, but keep Internet Explorer around for certain sites (can you ever really get rid of it?). I use the favorites folder in I.E. as a backup for my iPhone bookmarks via syncing.

To answer your question, in I.E. you can right-click the link and "save as favorite"

[patrickj]

I'm a bit of a techi nitwit but......... I have safari browser on my windows xp and cant get the itransmogrify to drag to the bookmark tab..........any way to do it any other way?!

Yeah - and in fact the bookmark sync thing works for some, doesn't for others, as some get corrupted characters in it etc. Workaround is:
-- Go to the 'Try it now' iTransmogrify link on his page
-- Right click on the word 'iTransmogrify' and choose 'Copy Link location'
-- Paste that into the email body text area of an email to yourself
-- in front of the word javascript (at the beginning of the long script entry) type in http://www.
-- after the word 'javascript' type .com/
-- Mail that to youself to an account you get on your iPhone
-- Click the link in that mail on the iPhone - it won't go anywhere valid when it opens in Safari, which is fine
-- Bookmark that page in Safari
-- Then go to Bookmarks, choose Edit, double-click on the one you just created
-- On its address line hold your finger down to bring up the magnifiying glass and edit out the http://www. and the .com/ that you added to the string
-- Now the bookmarklet should work

[Rockky]

actually yes u can download safari browser and use on windows...its fast and unique............and it synce with iphone of course.
but with firefox, which i also have .....how do you sync?.....or u just used IE?

[Rockky]

Yeah - and in fact the bookmark sync thing works for some, doesn't for others, as some get corrupted characters in it etc. Workaround is:
-- Go to the 'Try it now' iTransmogrify link on his page
-- Right click on the word 'iTransmogrify' and choose 'Copy Link location'
-- Paste that into the email body text area of an email to yourself
-- in front of the word javascript (at the beginning of the long script entry) type in http://www.
-- after the word 'javascript' type .com/
-- Mail that to youself to an account you get on your iPhone
-- Click the link in that mail on the iPhone - it won't go anywhere valid when it opens in Safari, which is fine
-- Bookmark that page in Safari
-- Then go to Bookmarks, choose Edit, double-click on the one you just created
-- On its address line hold your finger down to bring up the magnifiying glass and edit out the http://www. and the .com/ that you added to the string
-- Now the bookmarklet should work

Thanks bro, I'm on it!

[patrickj]

actually yes u can download safari browser and use on windows...its fast and unique............and it synce with iphone of course.
but with firefox, which i also have .....how do you sync?.....or u just used IE?

Don't think you can sync direct from Firefox - you need to sync via IE or Safari ...

[psylichon]

Nice trick, Patrick...

BTW, a word of warning to those of you attempting to set up IE to sync favorites for the first time...

When I did it, it wiped out all the bookmarks on the Iphone and replaced them with the I.E. ones. Any way to make it not do that? Surely you can get bookmarks OFF the phone as well?

[fsas06]

i cant get it to work, eather way, i tryed bolth

[patrickj]

Nice trick, Patrick...

BTW, a word of warning to those of you attempting to set up IE to sync favorites for the first time...

When I did it, it wiped out all the bookmarks on the Iphone and replaced them with the I.E. ones. Any way to make it not do that? Surely you can get bookmarks OFF the phone as well?

Trick isn't mine - its' taken from lots of folks messing round with this last night, when bookmark sync didn't work.
IE bookmarks = when I tell iTunes to swap to IE sync instead of Safari, it prompts me on whether I want to Merge or Replace - merge should keep it from removing any on the iPhone ...

[patrickj]

i cant get it to work, eather way, i tryed bolth

With the emailing the string method, it's all about getting that string exactly right - no spaces inserted where they weren't in the original string etc. - it may take some messing with, but should work if the bookmarklet carries the correct string ...

[Rockky]

yeah, still get video not supported by iphone

[dichertz]

I deleted this post.

I have different problems now.

[dichertz]

Forget the above post.

It is in my bookmarks, saved from the iTransmogrify webpage.

Nothing.

Dana

[patrickj]

yeah, still get video not supported by iphone

You get that on first vid on author's page? If so, that's normal - does the second vid on his page (the panda one) work for you?

[Tinman]

How do I bookmark the page? The link is in my e mail on my phone (I am looking at it).When I click on it it, it turns gray quickly, but goes nowhere and does nothing.

While I am here, is THIS the correct string?
Should be close enough, though the instructions called for adding "http://www."

I had a bit of a problem with the long mail link so I just added "http://www." to the front and then ran it through tinyU-R-L.com, coming up with this:
http://tinyU-R-L.com/2tbyg8 (http://*******.com/2tbyg8)

(Remove dashes.)

I opened that link in Mobile Safari, which of course ended with an error. I immediately saved the URL as a bookmark by tapping the "+" button at the top of the page. Then came the hard part: editing the bookmark to get rid of the "http://www." When in edit mode, with the keyboard present, I kept pressing towards the left side of the URL field--while the magnifying glass was up--till I made my way to the beginning. I carefully edited out "http://www." and saved it.
(All of that because I wasn't near my usual PC--the one I could have easily synced the bookmark from. Oh well.)

Anyway it works great. Here's a before and after of a typical Youtube link in this forum:

http://ctaz.com/%7Emlynch/x/flash1.png

http://ctaz.com/%7Emlynch/x/flash2.png



--
Mike

[dichertz]

I have a low tolerance for frustration.

I will try tomorrow.

Dana

[firewire]

I'm a bit of a techi nitwit but......... I have safari browser on my windows xp and cant get the itransmogrify to drag to the bookmark tab..........any way to do it any other way?!
It's true you can use safari on your windows pc. I have had it for a little while, but more than occasionally get a "safari cant open this page" unknown error when trying to open webpages. Rockky have you had this problem?

[Rockky]

It's true you can use safari on your windows pc. I have had it for a little while, but more than occasionally get a "safari cant open this page" unknown error when trying to open webpages. Rockky have you had this problem?

I installed safari cause it so adamantly says its 2-6 times faster than every other browser..haven't really seen that but haven't measured either .
No I haven't got that prompt on Safari.
You might look at preferences...there's a lot of possible configurations

[fsas06]

i finaly got it to work

[firewire]

Question - Do you have to save and edit the link everytime you want to watch embedded flash? I mean, for every different page you visit, in order to get it to work, you have to go through this process?

[patrickj]

Question - Do you have to save and edit the link everytime you want to watch embedded flash? I mean, for every different page you visit, in order to get it to work, you have to go through this process?

No, not at all. It's the initial setup only that requires a bit of messing with. Once it works, you just call up that bookmarklet when you're on a page with Flash content to convert ...

[amiroo79]

Doesn't seem to work on ALL flash content sites. I just tried spike.com (formerly iFilm.com) and it didn't work.

I guess it only works if the content is linked to native content (as it says so on their site) on a playable format for the iPhone such as YouTube clips.

I wish it would work for all flash content but I guess its not a flash plugin for the Safari browser as we all wish it was.

Anybody try it on some good sites we can all enjoy that we couldn't enjoy before? Post them here if you can. Thx.

[bean22]

Just like amiroo79 wrote, iTransmogrify doesn't work with flash content on a lot of websites. Hopefully the guy who created it is working on that.

BTW, is it supposed to work on the actual YouTube site in the Safari browser? Because i tried it on there and it doesn't. If anyone knows any sites it does work on, please post them.

[patrickj]

Just like amiroo79 wrote, iTransmogrify doesn't work with flash content on a lot of websites. Hopefully the guy who created it is working on that.

BTW, is it supposed to work on the actual YouTube site in the Safari browser? Because i tried it on there and it doesn't. If anyone knows any sites it does work on, please post them.

The author's site tells you you that not all content will work. Here's his blurb on what is supported and how you can make suggestions:
Currently supported content:
Default YouTube Object-Embed code
YouTube bare Embed
YouTube bare Object
A variety of Flash-based MP3 players including Digg Podcasts (http://digg.com/podcasts) Support for other embedded media sites will be added as I figure them out. Please report broken sites or suggest additional sources using Google Code issue tracker (http://code.google.com/p/itransmogrify/issues/list).
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Sites it will work on - this one for a start - try this thread (http://www.everythingicafe.com/forum/general-discussion/video-they-iscrewed-me-again-20563.html) on your iPhone

[dichertz]

I have now tried it both ways, but am stuck.

I mailed the link to myself and it is on my phone.
How do I save it to safari bookmarks?

[patrickj]

I have now tried it both ways, but am stuck.

I mailed the link to myself and it is on my phone.
How do I save it to safari bookmarks?

Click the link in the email, which should open in Safari and then bookmark it as normal, then follow the steps listed above to edit the bookmark ...

[kaynine_9]

Can u use this to watch flash on any good websites besides youtube?

[kaynine_9]

i know the guy said it doesnt work on all sites but was anyone able to use it on any specific websites.. This seems like one more step to having flash on the iPhone.

[patrickj]

Can u use this to watch flash on any good websites besides youtube?

The author's site tells you you that not all content will work. Here's his blurb on what is supported and how you can make suggestions:
Currently supported content:
Default YouTube Object-Embed code
YouTube bare Embed
YouTube bare Object
A variety of Flash-based MP3 players including Digg Podcasts (http://digg.com/podcasts)Support for other embedded media sites will be added as I figure them out. Please report broken sites or suggest additional sources using Google Code issue tracker (http://code.google.com/p/itransmogrify/issues/list).
---------------------------------------------------------------------


Sites it will work on - this one for a start - try this thread (http://www.everythingicafe.com/forum/general-discussion/video-they-iscrewed-me-again-20563.html) on your iPhone