My wife wanted MTV back, so I 'Vibe-Coded' her a 24/7 linear time machine for her birthday
Hey Product Hunters! š
When my wife Noa and I heard that MTV was officially shutting down, it felt like the end of an era. As 90s kids, we missed that specific "linear" experienceāthe joy of just turning on the TV and being surprised by a music video without an algorithm getting in the way.
She joked that "someone needs to bring it back," and with her birthday coming up, I decided that someone would be me.
The "Vibe Coding" Journey:
The development was a mix of "manual labor" and AI assistance. I started by brainstorming features and broadcast logic with ChatGPT. For the initial POC, I used Base44 and Lovable to get a feel for the product.
However, I wanted to be more "hands-on" with the code, so I moved to VS Code with Copilot. Once Google's Antigravity (Gemini 3 Pro) was launched, I used it heavily for UI/UXāit absolutely blew everything else out of the water when it came to designing the retro remote interface.
The Tech Specs:
Linear Broadcasting: I built a backend that generates random broadcast slots from a database of 8,000+ clips.
The "Aha!" Moment: I discovered that using the YouTube IFrame API under specific conditions allows for an ad-free, continuous stream, which was crucial for the vibe.
Customization: Users can even inject their own YouTube playlists into specific channels to personalize their rotation.
The Challenges: It wasn't all magic prompts. I had to deal with classic dev hurdles: edge cases in broadcast logic, performance issues, and moments where the AI suggested inefficient solutions that required my experience to optimize.
Now, Iām finalizing an Android TV APK so we can zap through channels from the couch with a real remote.
Iād love to hear your thoughts:
Do you miss linear TV, or are you strictly "On-Demand" now?
For the devs hereāhow are you balancing "hands-on" coding with AI-generated components?
Check out the time machine: http://nmtv.online/ š¤
Replies
@alonhmdt This is such a wholesome use of āvibe codingā š
Also, building it as a gift instead of a startup pitch makes it way cooler.
I really like that you leaned into the linear, no-algorithm surprise aspect. That feeling of just turning something on and letting it run is exactly what streaming lost along the way. The YouTube IFrame workaround for a continuous, ad-free stream is a great find too ā very āahaā moment indeed.
Also appreciate the honesty about the limits of AI. Using it for ideation and UI while still relying on experience to handle logic, performance, and edge cases feels like the most realistic balance right now.
Personally, I miss linear TV more than I expected ā not for everything, but for discovery and background vibes.
And building an Android TV APK to use it from the couch with a real remote is chefās kiss.
NMTV
@alpertayfurrĀ Thanks so much! You hit on exactly why I felt this needed to exist. Thereās something about the 'choice paralysis' of modern streaming that actually makes it harder to enjoy music.
The Android TV part was the real challengeāmaking sure the web-based 'zapping' felt snappy on a TV remote was a fun logic puzzle to solve with the AI.
@alonhmdt I didn't know I needed this thing before reading about it lol, but that's amazing!
Personally, I'm really starting to miss the opportunity to simply turn on the TV and listen to whatever's there.
I also agree with @alpertayfurr about linear TV helping with discovery.
With all these on-demand platforms, you end up always watching the same stuff.
So, good luck with your project :)