Resolve YouTube Watch Later.
Cleanse is a local-first Mac app for the YouTube queue. Try 50 saved videos free, no credit card. Buy once at the $29 founding price; your product key unlocks the trial.
AI is optional: bring your own OpenAI or Anthropic key, use a local developer CLI path, or skip summaries.
Review loop
Turn a saved video into a decision.
Saved video
Pull from Watch Later and see what has been waiting.
Short summary
Decide whether it deserves your time.
Deep summary + transcript
Preserve the substance when the idea matters.
Keep, remove, or organize
Move it to a collection, remove it, or review the source.
Share or export
Send the useful version onward with the source attached.
YouTube first. Reddit, Substack, Twitter, and knowledge-tool connectors are planned next.
The problem
Your Watch Later queue needs decisions, not guilt.
Saving a video is a promise to come back later. Enough saves become a queue you stop opening. Cleanse starts with YouTube and gives that queue a review pass: read the short summary, go deeper when needed, move it somewhere useful, share it, or let it go.
The goal is a decision, not more consumption.
Each saved item gets a clear next step. Quick summaries help you decide fast, deep summaries and transcripts preserve the substance, and source-linked shares make useful material easy to send.
Saving is not a decision.
A saved video still needs a next action: watch, summarize, keep, share, remove, or organize.
A big queue is hard to re-enter.
Once Watch Later gets large enough, browsing it costs more attention than most videos deserve.
Context disappears.
After a few days, it is hard to remember what looked useful or why you saved it.
How it works
From Watch Later to clear next actions.
Start with the shortest useful version. Open the transcript or deep summary when the idea matters. Then organize it, export it, share it, remove it, or decide whether the source still belongs.
Review saved videos
Start with the short summary so each saved video can earn more time, move forward, or leave the queue.
Go deeper only when it matters
Open the deep summary or transcript when the idea is worth keeping, studying, or sending onward.
Organize, share, export, or remove
Create collections, merge related groups, use AI organize, export notes, share summaries, or clear the save.
Your first Cleanse session
See the queue get smaller before you buy.
The free trial is enough for a real Watch Later review pass. This example shows the kind of decision record Cleanse is built to create.
Videos reviewed
50
Videos kept
11
Videos removed
24
Videos exported/shared
7
Estimated watch time avoided
19h 40m
What ships
A review loop for everything you meant to come back to.
Cleanse starts with YouTube because that is where the pain is already clear. The loop is broader: saved videos, posts, newsletters, threads, and links should all become decisions. Reddit, Substack, Twitter, and other sources are planned next, along with connectors to Obsidian and other popular knowledge systems.
Decide before you watch
Start with the short summary so a saved video can become a yes, no, or later without stealing the whole hour.
Keep the substance
Open the deep summary and transcript when the idea is worth preserving, quoting, or studying.
Organize what still matters
Create collections and playlists, merge overlapping groups, and use AI organize when the queue has patterns.
Remove what no longer earns attention
Clear videos from Watch Later, review sources, and unsubscribe when a channel no longer belongs in the loop.
Bring your own AI
Developers can use Codex CLI or Claude Code CLI. Cleanse also accepts OpenAI and Anthropic API keys. A free on-device Gemma 4 path is underway.
Share, export, and send onward
Share a clean short summary through the native Apple share sheet, export with source links, or send the finished decision into your notes. Obsidian and other knowledge app connectors are planned.
What changes
The queue gets smaller because every item gets a next action.
Cleanse does not try to make you watch everything. It gives each saved video enough context to become a decision.
Before
A saved video with no context.
During
A short summary, transcript, and source decision.
After
Kept, removed, exported, shared, or organized.
A saved video gets context.
Cleanse shows enough of the idea to make the next action obvious.
The queue moves.
Each pass ends with videos kept, removed, exported, shared, or organized.
Useful material keeps its source.
Share summaries and exports keep the original link attached so the decision can travel.
Best fit
Best for Mac users with a serious Watch Later problem.
Cleanse is most useful when saved videos have become part of how you learn, but the queue needs decisions: summarize, read the transcript, organize, share, remove, or decide whether the source still belongs.
Requirements
macOS first, optimized for Apple Silicon. AI features are optional and use your own provider key.
Your Watch Later queue is too big to casually browse.
You save videos because they look useful, then forget why.
You want summaries before committing attention.
You want transcripts and exports for ideas worth keeping.
You use Obsidian, Markdown, or another knowledge workflow.
You would rather decide than collect forever.
Privacy
Your data stays local.
Cleanse starts with YouTube because that is where the first workflow for saved content ships. There is no Cleanse backend account. Review state stays local on your Mac, and optional AI requests go directly to your chosen provider.
No Cleanse backend account
There is no hosted account system or cloud sync. Your review history and queue data are not sent to a Cleanse server.
Lightweight on-device processing
Local transcription is not an intensive process. It runs comfortably on a 2023 M1 Mac, and processing stays on your machine.
Bring your own AI key
AI summaries are optional. Developers can use Codex CLI or Claude Code CLI. Cleanse also accepts OpenAI and Anthropic API keys. On-device Gemma 4 support is underway.
You control the app data
Review state stays local on your Mac. Clear local data in Settings whenever you want a fresh start.
FAQ
Questions and answers.
Details on privacy, pricing, AI setup, the current YouTube release, and the broader input and knowledge-tool roadmap.
Pricing
Review 50 saved videos free. Buy once if it saves your queue.
Download Cleanse from this site and use the trial before checkout. After purchase, your product key arrives by email and unlocks the trial as the full app.
50 saved videos free, no credit card
Watch Later, subscriptions, and playlists today
Short summaries before you spend time
Deep summaries and transcripts when it matters
Collections, merge, and AI organize
Native share summaries and Markdown export
Obsidian and other knowledge app connectors planned
Local-first review state on your Mac
14-day refund and first year of updates
Standard price
The founding price has ended. First year of updates included. After that, updates are $19/yr -- optional. You keep your version either way.