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I have a feeling, despite Google's communications, this is all an attempt to thwart the numerous ad-free YouTube apps. Another reason it should have been broke

I have a feeling, despite Google's communications, this is all an attempt to thwart the numerous ad-free YouTube apps. Another reason it should have been broken apart years ago. It's laughable that the biggest ad company in the world owns the largest video site in the world, largest browser in the world, largest search engine in the world, and largest mobile OS in the world.

vee-kay 9mo ago
NewPipe (FOSS available on F-Droid) is nice alternative to ads-infested YouTube. I disabled YouTube and YouTube Music apps on my mobile, and I use NewPipe instead. You can even download YT videos or audio from YT videos using it.
- thaumasiotes 9mo ago
  What's going on with NewPipe? Their F-droid repository is down. Their domain is down. Their github repository is up, but it links to their domain, which isn't. Are they dying?
  - shscs911 9mo ago
    Seems like a DNSSEC screw-up. You can find more details here. https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/website/issues/420#issuecomment-3791439828 https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/website/issues/420#issuecomme...
- ycombinatrix 9mo ago
  I'm using Grayjay at the moment. Somehow still available in the play store (though with reduced feature set).
- McDyver 9mo ago
  I'm using Pipepipe. I believe it's a fork from NewPipe, and has more features, namely skipping sponsor block, and intros
  - vee-kay 9mo ago
    Pipepipe stopped downloading audio or video when I was using it a couple of years back. I switched over to NewPipe as it was better maintained and worked well. Since past few months, NewPipe is not automatically showing latest YT videos, but it opens the video if I type in the video's source url. Downloads are working fine though, which is what I mainly use it for. Will try Pipepipe again next weekend if it fares better. Google is trying to suppress all these FOSS alternatives to its ads-overloaded apps.
- Grazester 9mo ago
  So entitled. How do you expect Google to pay it's content creators that you watch if they didn't have ads?
  - deleted 9mo ago
    [deleted]
  - StopDisinfo910 9mo ago
    The issue is obviously one of trade-off. Google pays content creators so little they have all started including ads in their videos. Si technically as long as you are counted they get paid. Meanwhile, Google is more and more aggressive with their own ads interrupting videos and pushing you to subscribe to their expensive offer. Some people, like me, have just stopped watching YouTube. Other are turning to blocking ads. It's the usual tug of war between revenues and UX but I don't think consumers have to feel bad about not playing by Google's rules.
    - vee-kay 9mo ago
      >Some people, like me, have just stopped watching YouTube. Other are turning to blocking ads. Just use viable FOSS alternatives like NewPipe or PipePipe. They are good and clean. They allow to watch or download YT content, without ads.
  - shakna 9mo ago
    When Google's ads do all the following, I'll consider guilt: a) Don't throw malware in their ads. b) Don't throw seizure-inducing flashes in their ads. c) Allow turning off gambling in their ads.
  - mystifyingpoi 9mo ago
    I will be downvoted, but I'm not fooling myself. I don't care. As long as uBlock and yt-dlp still work, I'll use them. If Google breaks them, I'll resort to some automated screengrabbing + maybe some AI automation to click "skip" in a virtual machine or something. People will use all sorts of excuses, like the ads are about gambling, or contain viruses, or are detrimental to mental health, or whatever. No, don't use these excuses. You just don't want ads, and it is still possible to not see them. That's respectable.
londons_explore 9mo ago
If google push too hard, someone will make a "youtube mirror" - ie. a complete copy of youtube at a different domain. The actual data could be hosted p2p across all the users devices, and any missing data retrieved one-time-only from real youtube servers.
- nine_k 9mo ago
  Do you have an estimate of how much would be needed to mirror? BTW PeerTube is a thing.
  - direwolf20 9mo ago
    1GB per video
- clhodapp 9mo ago
  Has there ever actually been a success story for using end user mobile handsets as servers?
- necovek 9mo ago
  I guess you never received a copyright infringement notice from your ISP for seeding a torrent.
- direwolf20 9mo ago
  That website will have an IP address and a registered owner. Taking down piracy websites is routine for governments, server providers, and domain registrars now, and they don't care whether the site is actually illegal. You can only get away with this long-term if the site is hosted in Russia, but Russia is sanctioned so how will you pay them?
  - michaelt 9mo ago
    Eh, somehow The Pirate Bay, Fitgirl Repacks, Anna's Archive, Sci-Hub etc seem to manage it. The real challenge is delivering good enough performance that your site is better than waiting through 30 seconds of ads; and making it worth your time to run the site: there's hassle, legal risk, and it's not like you can run ads to make some cash.

vee-kay 9mo ago

NewPipe (FOSS available on F-Droid) is nice alternative to ads-infested YouTube. I disabled YouTube and YouTube Music apps on my mobile, and I use NewPipe instead. You can even download YT videos or audio from YT videos using it.

thaumasiotes 9mo ago
What's going on with NewPipe? Their F-droid repository is down. Their domain is down. Their github repository is up, but it links to their domain, which isn't. Are they dying?
- shscs911 9mo ago
  Seems like a DNSSEC screw-up. You can find more details here. https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/website/issues/420#issuecomment-3791439828 https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/website/issues/420#issuecomme...
ycombinatrix 9mo ago
I'm using Grayjay at the moment. Somehow still available in the play store (though with reduced feature set).
McDyver 9mo ago
I'm using Pipepipe. I believe it's a fork from NewPipe, and has more features, namely skipping sponsor block, and intros
- vee-kay 9mo ago
  Pipepipe stopped downloading audio or video when I was using it a couple of years back. I switched over to NewPipe as it was better maintained and worked well. Since past few months, NewPipe is not automatically showing latest YT videos, but it opens the video if I type in the video's source url. Downloads are working fine though, which is what I mainly use it for. Will try Pipepipe again next weekend if it fares better. Google is trying to suppress all these FOSS alternatives to its ads-overloaded apps.
Grazester 9mo ago
So entitled. How do you expect Google to pay it's content creators that you watch if they didn't have ads?
- deleted 9mo ago
  [deleted]
- StopDisinfo910 9mo ago
  The issue is obviously one of trade-off. Google pays content creators so little they have all started including ads in their videos. Si technically as long as you are counted they get paid. Meanwhile, Google is more and more aggressive with their own ads interrupting videos and pushing you to subscribe to their expensive offer. Some people, like me, have just stopped watching YouTube. Other are turning to blocking ads. It's the usual tug of war between revenues and UX but I don't think consumers have to feel bad about not playing by Google's rules.
  - vee-kay 9mo ago
    >Some people, like me, have just stopped watching YouTube. Other are turning to blocking ads. Just use viable FOSS alternatives like NewPipe or PipePipe. They are good and clean. They allow to watch or download YT content, without ads.
- shakna 9mo ago
  When Google's ads do all the following, I'll consider guilt: a) Don't throw malware in their ads. b) Don't throw seizure-inducing flashes in their ads. c) Allow turning off gambling in their ads.
- mystifyingpoi 9mo ago
  I will be downvoted, but I'm not fooling myself. I don't care. As long as uBlock and yt-dlp still work, I'll use them. If Google breaks them, I'll resort to some automated screengrabbing + maybe some AI automation to click "skip" in a virtual machine or something. People will use all sorts of excuses, like the ads are about gambling, or contain viruses, or are detrimental to mental health, or whatever. No, don't use these excuses. You just don't want ads, and it is still possible to not see them. That's respectable.

londons_explore 9mo ago

If google push too hard, someone will make a "youtube mirror" - ie. a complete copy of youtube at a different domain. The actual data could be hosted p2p across all the users devices, and any missing data retrieved one-time-only from real youtube servers.

nine_k 9mo ago
Do you have an estimate of how much would be needed to mirror? BTW PeerTube is a thing.
- direwolf20 9mo ago
  1GB per video
clhodapp 9mo ago
Has there ever actually been a success story for using end user mobile handsets as servers?
necovek 9mo ago
I guess you never received a copyright infringement notice from your ISP for seeding a torrent.
direwolf20 9mo ago
That website will have an IP address and a registered owner. Taking down piracy websites is routine for governments, server providers, and domain registrars now, and they don't care whether the site is actually illegal. You can only get away with this long-term if the site is hosted in Russia, but Russia is sanctioned so how will you pay them?
- michaelt 9mo ago
  Eh, somehow The Pirate Bay, Fitgirl Repacks, Anna's Archive, Sci-Hub etc seem to manage it. The real challenge is delivering good enough performance that your site is better than waiting through 30 seconds of ads; and making it worth your time to run the site: there's hassle, legal risk, and it's not like you can run ads to make some cash.