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Another unwelcome change is that disabling the YouTube app no longer allows opening YouTube links in an external application, forcing them to open in Chrome ins

Another unwelcome change is that disabling the YouTube app no longer allows opening YouTube links in an external application, forcing them to open in Chrome instead. I use just a handful of services that require Chrome, so it's unreasonable to have to disable it entirely to restore default historical behaviors. Really feels like throwing their toys out of the crib over not having total dominance on people's devices.

throwra620 5y ago
Try opening a Google maps link on iOS without Google maps installed. Annoying.
Ourgon 5y ago
The solution to the Youtube-problem is to use a Youtube-frontend like Invidious [1] in combination with an extension like Privacy Redirect [2] of libredirect [3] so you don't need to touch the Youtube site at all. The same works for things like Twitter and Reddit (which can be redirected to front-ends offering the same content) or Google Maps, Google Search and Google Translate (which get redirected to alternative services). Some of these alternatives - Invidious for Youtube, Nitter for Twitter, libreddit for Reddit - can (but don't have to) be run on your own server, others use established services. This way you get the benefits of accessing content from adversarial services like Twitter and Youtube without having to interface with them directly on any device you use, not just that phone you happened to install some alternative front end like Newpipe on. You can "subscribe" to Youtube channels without telling Google you did so, you can access those subscriptions from anywhere, etc. Ditch that Youtube app and while you're at it ditch the rest of those Google apps as well. Freedom is just one click away: Are you sure you want to uninstall this app? [OK]. [1] https://github.com/iv-org/invidious https://github.com/iv-org/invidious [2] https://github.com/SimonBrazell/privacy-redirect https://github.com/SimonBrazell/privacy-redirect [3] https://github.com/libredirect/libredirect https://github.com/libredirect/libredirect
- sneak 5y ago
  How do I use Privacy Redirect on a mobile browser? I can't seem to install arbitrary browser extensions in Firefox on Graphene, just a little allowlist of a halfdozen "blessed" ones.
  - novok 5y ago
    In iOS, certain apps can register for certain URL domains and protocols to open the app instead. Maybe Android has something similar and you could leverage that in an app that implements something similar.
- Liquix 5y ago
  This works flawlessly at the moment (currently using the same setup). However it's more of a workaround than a solution - Google could break/throttle all of Invidious at any point if it drives ad revenue down another couple points, just like they recently did to Vanced. The real solution is the hard one - moving away from YT entirely
  - 14 5y ago
    YouTube is getting shittier by the year also. Forcing me to watch an ad that takes 5 seconds to even start then after said ad the video freezes and doesn’t even play requiring a page refresh just to watch something. I’m ready for the alternative to arrive.
    - jvolkman 5y ago
      There are no video ads if you pay for YouTube Premium (outside of embedded paid sponsor stuff added by the video producers themselves).
      - mcagl 5y ago
        Or even better: youtube in the browser, with ublock origin + sponsorblock, and Youtube becomes at least less annoying.
  - judge2020 5y ago
    Invidious is different from Vanced in that Vanced was a mod on top of the main YouTube application, while Invidious is just a different frontend with presumably no infringement of YouTube IP or code or TOS. Now, youtube-dl got the infamous copyright complaint by RIAA because they advertised using it to download copyrighted music[0], so perhaps a stronger case could be made if any code within Invidious used more hidden APIs or otherwise shows using it to watch Standard YouTube License videos without fulfilling the quid pro quo of watching ads. 0: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24872911 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24872911
    - 5y ago
- esperent 5y ago
  I used invidious for a few weeks. Actually getting the videos once I connected was fine, the issue was that invidious instances were constantly going down and I had to keep searching for a new working instance. I also use libreddit and teddit and almost never have a problem with those. Are there any equivalent invidious servers?
  - psYchotic 5y ago
    Invidious is fairly easy to self-host, see https://docs.invidious.io/Installation/#docker-compose-method-production https://docs.invidious.io/Installation/#docker-compose-metho... I don't believe it's very resource intensive (though the recommendation is at least 3GB of RAM), so you may be able to run it on localhost on your laptop, or you could run it on some cheap VPS.
- 123jay7 5y ago
- ravenstine 5y ago
  Am I the only one who is less likely to pay Google for anything when they pull hi-jinks like this? The more that they change how things work, the more that I want to disable updates and use libre software alternatives. If they were just cool and didn't try to prevent me from having things my way, I'd probably have paid them for a premium app experience.
  - gameswithgo 5y ago
    What are you going to do though? Apple forces you to use their web browser, any apparently 3rd part web browsers are using apple's actual browser as a plug in. There are no viable options for smart phones that are not fascist.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - coffeecat 5y ago
      PinePhone + mainline Linux. Obtaining freedom isn't easy - it requires hard work and sacrifice - but it's absolutely possible.
- xigoi 5y ago
  How do you use the extensions on mobile, where Firefox doesn't allow non-curated extensions?
  - yissp 5y ago
    I think Firefox Nightly gives you access to the full selection of extensions.
    - xigoi 5y ago
      It doesn't.
zagrebian 5y ago
Are there any instances of this link hijacking crap on iOS as well?
- beart 5y ago
  My experience on iOS was that many application specific links were forcing the use of apple's apps, even if you have a third party app installed.
  - dijit 5y ago
    That only applied to the browser, calendar (and maybe the mail app, but I think that was always overridable), but this has changed now so you can choose default apps for all Apple built-ins. Most Apps seem to implement their own in-app browser (LinkedIn, Apollo) too.
    - Steltek 5y ago
      So is the browser stuff fixed then? IIRC, "default browser" was left to individual apps and it was implemented as the app requesting a URI of https:// https:// or chromeHttps:// (or something like that. It was total Apple bullshit.
      - zagrebian 5y ago
        From my experience, it works well. I’ve set my default browser to Firefox, and links do open in Firefox indeed. Even when I’m in an in-app browser, and there’s a little Safari icon in the lower right corner, when I tap that icon, the link opens in Firefox. So the Safari button does not mean Safari but default browser. Pretty good.
        toyg 5y ago
        Usual reminder that Firefox in iOS still means "Safari with a Firefox skin". But yes, it's an improvement, after "only" a decade of complaints about a clearly anticompetitive restriction.
maxhille 5y ago
Can you clarify what you want to do exactly? 3rd party apps can still register on Youtube URLs, the process just changed a bit. And being affected in my app[1] by this change myself I have to say that this permission-style model is an improvement IMO. [1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lambdasoup.watchlater https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lambdasoup...
- xenomachina 5y ago
  Two things the new system has broken for me: 1. Previously, installing a reddit app meant that it would become the default handler of reddit links. Worst case, I'd be prompted when I opened a reddit link, and I could choose the app I wanted, and say to use it every time or continue prompting. In Android 12, I have to go to settings and preemptively check a checkbox for every kind of url my reddit app can handle. Worse, every time my reddit app updates, these settings seem to get reset, and I have to go back and fix them. 2. It used to be possible to register an app with a file type. For example, MX Player registers itself with video file types. Firefox even has some special support for this, so if you're on a page with an embedded video, you can long press on the video and select "Open in external app". Prior to Android 12 this would give you a chooser, and you could select an installed video player. In Android 12, it just takes you straight to the default browser. It is no longer possible to register a default handler by file type. > I have to say that this permission-style model is an improvement IMO. What does the new system make better? All it does is remove user choice. If I wanted a walled garden I'd use iOS.
Iolaum 5y ago
Can't you install Newpipe and select that as the default way to open youtube links? (Assuming you don't object to doing that of course.)
- AdmiralAsshat 5y ago
  IIRC you can't install Newpipe without enabling side-loaded apps, though. It's not available on the Play Store for obvious reasons.
  - GekkePrutser 5y ago
    That's not a bad thing though? F-Droid has some really great apps. Very fast too compared to their data harvesting Google play alternatives. I mostly use FOSS apps now, their quality has improved a lot in recent years.
    - LordDragonfang 5y ago
      Which apps would you specifically recommend as faster compared to their counterparts?
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
      - GekkePrutser 5y ago
        Geometric Weather, Newpipe ( instead of YouTube), AndOTP (instead of Google or Microsoft authenticator, the latter being 77MB!), RCX (instead of OneDrive or Dropbox etc). Gadgetbridge to interface with my Xiaomi band and Amazfit watch (also not leaking any personal data unlike the official app!) All apps that don't do any tracking nor ads and as such save a ton of cpu speed and storage. Especially Microsoft apps are really bad lately. Like OneDrive and Outlook. I have to use them for work. After a month or two outlook uses several gigabytes of storage and gets super slow to refresh. I don't use an open source app instead of it, as I couldn't find a great one, sadly. But I use Nine from 9folders which is great and fast. Though I really want to try out FairEmail soon. Oh and Organic maps Vs Google maps, or OsmAnd. The latter is not faster but its maps are a lot better and the app has a lot more features.
Larrikin 5y ago
This isn't true? I discovered Vanced a few weeks ago, and YouTube links are opening just fine after disabling the links on the official app and enabling them in the Vanced.
- moogly 5y ago
  I have some bad news for you regarding Vanced...
lopis 5y ago
If you need a chrome browser, would using another chrome based browser work?

throwra620 5y ago

Try opening a Google maps link on iOS without Google maps installed. Annoying.

Ourgon 5y ago

The solution to the Youtube-problem is to use a Youtube-frontend like Invidious [1] in combination with an extension like Privacy Redirect [2] of libredirect [3] so you don't need to touch the Youtube site at all. The same works for things like Twitter and Reddit (which can be redirected to front-ends offering the same content) or Google Maps, Google Search and Google Translate (which get redirected to alternative services). Some of these alternatives - Invidious for Youtube, Nitter for Twitter, libreddit for Reddit - can (but don't have to) be run on your own server, others use established services. This way you get the benefits of accessing content from adversarial services like Twitter and Youtube without having to interface with them directly on any device you use, not just that phone you happened to install some alternative front end like Newpipe on. You can "subscribe" to Youtube channels without telling Google you did so, you can access those subscriptions from anywhere, etc. Ditch that Youtube app and while you're at it ditch the rest of those Google apps as well. Freedom is just one click away: Are you sure you want to uninstall this app? [OK]. [1] https://github.com/iv-org/invidious https://github.com/iv-org/invidious [2] https://github.com/SimonBrazell/privacy-redirect https://github.com/SimonBrazell/privacy-redirect [3] https://github.com/libredirect/libredirect https://github.com/libredirect/libredirect

sneak 5y ago
How do I use Privacy Redirect on a mobile browser? I can't seem to install arbitrary browser extensions in Firefox on Graphene, just a little allowlist of a halfdozen "blessed" ones.
- novok 5y ago
  In iOS, certain apps can register for certain URL domains and protocols to open the app instead. Maybe Android has something similar and you could leverage that in an app that implements something similar.
Liquix 5y ago
This works flawlessly at the moment (currently using the same setup). However it's more of a workaround than a solution - Google could break/throttle all of Invidious at any point if it drives ad revenue down another couple points, just like they recently did to Vanced. The real solution is the hard one - moving away from YT entirely
- 14 5y ago
  YouTube is getting shittier by the year also. Forcing me to watch an ad that takes 5 seconds to even start then after said ad the video freezes and doesn’t even play requiring a page refresh just to watch something. I’m ready for the alternative to arrive.
  - jvolkman 5y ago
    There are no video ads if you pay for YouTube Premium (outside of embedded paid sponsor stuff added by the video producers themselves).
    - mcagl 5y ago
      Or even better: youtube in the browser, with ublock origin + sponsorblock, and Youtube becomes at least less annoying.
- judge2020 5y ago
  Invidious is different from Vanced in that Vanced was a mod on top of the main YouTube application, while Invidious is just a different frontend with presumably no infringement of YouTube IP or code or TOS. Now, youtube-dl got the infamous copyright complaint by RIAA because they advertised using it to download copyrighted music[0], so perhaps a stronger case could be made if any code within Invidious used more hidden APIs or otherwise shows using it to watch Standard YouTube License videos without fulfilling the quid pro quo of watching ads. 0: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24872911 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24872911
  - 5y ago
esperent 5y ago
I used invidious for a few weeks. Actually getting the videos once I connected was fine, the issue was that invidious instances were constantly going down and I had to keep searching for a new working instance. I also use libreddit and teddit and almost never have a problem with those. Are there any equivalent invidious servers?
- psYchotic 5y ago
  Invidious is fairly easy to self-host, see https://docs.invidious.io/Installation/#docker-compose-method-production https://docs.invidious.io/Installation/#docker-compose-metho... I don't believe it's very resource intensive (though the recommendation is at least 3GB of RAM), so you may be able to run it on localhost on your laptop, or you could run it on some cheap VPS.
123jay7 5y ago
ravenstine 5y ago
Am I the only one who is less likely to pay Google for anything when they pull hi-jinks like this? The more that they change how things work, the more that I want to disable updates and use libre software alternatives. If they were just cool and didn't try to prevent me from having things my way, I'd probably have paid them for a premium app experience.
- gameswithgo 5y ago
  What are you going to do though? Apple forces you to use their web browser, any apparently 3rd part web browsers are using apple's actual browser as a plug in. There are no viable options for smart phones that are not fascist.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - coffeecat 5y ago
    PinePhone + mainline Linux. Obtaining freedom isn't easy - it requires hard work and sacrifice - but it's absolutely possible.
xigoi 5y ago
How do you use the extensions on mobile, where Firefox doesn't allow non-curated extensions?
- yissp 5y ago
  I think Firefox Nightly gives you access to the full selection of extensions.
  - xigoi 5y ago
    It doesn't.

zagrebian 5y ago

Are there any instances of this link hijacking crap on iOS as well?

beart 5y ago
My experience on iOS was that many application specific links were forcing the use of apple's apps, even if you have a third party app installed.
- dijit 5y ago
  That only applied to the browser, calendar (and maybe the mail app, but I think that was always overridable), but this has changed now so you can choose default apps for all Apple built-ins. Most Apps seem to implement their own in-app browser (LinkedIn, Apollo) too.
  - Steltek 5y ago
    So is the browser stuff fixed then? IIRC, "default browser" was left to individual apps and it was implemented as the app requesting a URI of https:// https:// or chromeHttps:// (or something like that. It was total Apple bullshit.
    - zagrebian 5y ago
      From my experience, it works well. I’ve set my default browser to Firefox, and links do open in Firefox indeed. Even when I’m in an in-app browser, and there’s a little Safari icon in the lower right corner, when I tap that icon, the link opens in Firefox. So the Safari button does not mean Safari but default browser. Pretty good.
      - toyg 5y ago
        Usual reminder that Firefox in iOS still means "Safari with a Firefox skin". But yes, it's an improvement, after "only" a decade of complaints about a clearly anticompetitive restriction.

maxhille 5y ago

Can you clarify what you want to do exactly? 3rd party apps can still register on Youtube URLs, the process just changed a bit. And being affected in my app[1] by this change myself I have to say that this permission-style model is an improvement IMO. [1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lambdasoup.watchlater https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lambdasoup...

xenomachina 5y ago
Two things the new system has broken for me: 1. Previously, installing a reddit app meant that it would become the default handler of reddit links. Worst case, I'd be prompted when I opened a reddit link, and I could choose the app I wanted, and say to use it every time or continue prompting. In Android 12, I have to go to settings and preemptively check a checkbox for every kind of url my reddit app can handle. Worse, every time my reddit app updates, these settings seem to get reset, and I have to go back and fix them. 2. It used to be possible to register an app with a file type. For example, MX Player registers itself with video file types. Firefox even has some special support for this, so if you're on a page with an embedded video, you can long press on the video and select "Open in external app". Prior to Android 12 this would give you a chooser, and you could select an installed video player. In Android 12, it just takes you straight to the default browser. It is no longer possible to register a default handler by file type. > I have to say that this permission-style model is an improvement IMO. What does the new system make better? All it does is remove user choice. If I wanted a walled garden I'd use iOS.

Iolaum 5y ago

Can't you install Newpipe and select that as the default way to open youtube links? (Assuming you don't object to doing that of course.)

AdmiralAsshat 5y ago
IIRC you can't install Newpipe without enabling side-loaded apps, though. It's not available on the Play Store for obvious reasons.
- GekkePrutser 5y ago
  That's not a bad thing though? F-Droid has some really great apps. Very fast too compared to their data harvesting Google play alternatives. I mostly use FOSS apps now, their quality has improved a lot in recent years.
  - LordDragonfang 5y ago
    Which apps would you specifically recommend as faster compared to their counterparts?
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - GekkePrutser 5y ago
      Geometric Weather, Newpipe ( instead of YouTube), AndOTP (instead of Google or Microsoft authenticator, the latter being 77MB!), RCX (instead of OneDrive or Dropbox etc). Gadgetbridge to interface with my Xiaomi band and Amazfit watch (also not leaking any personal data unlike the official app!) All apps that don't do any tracking nor ads and as such save a ton of cpu speed and storage. Especially Microsoft apps are really bad lately. Like OneDrive and Outlook. I have to use them for work. After a month or two outlook uses several gigabytes of storage and gets super slow to refresh. I don't use an open source app instead of it, as I couldn't find a great one, sadly. But I use Nine from 9folders which is great and fast. Though I really want to try out FairEmail soon. Oh and Organic maps Vs Google maps, or OsmAnd. The latter is not faster but its maps are a lot better and the app has a lot more features.

Larrikin 5y ago

This isn't true? I discovered Vanced a few weeks ago, and YouTube links are opening just fine after disabling the links on the official app and enabling them in the Vanced.

moogly 5y ago
I have some bad news for you regarding Vanced...

lopis 5y ago

If you need a chrome browser, would using another chrome based browser work?