What do people use to watch Youtube with?
I used to use Firefox with LibRedirect and would rotate through Invidious instances, but I’ve had less luck with that.
If I turn on VPN, YT prompts to log in to watch videos…
Try Freetube with VPN set to an uncommon location like Bulgaria or Argentina etc. This works for most videos, but still some won’t load. I use invidious for those vidoes. This way, you won’t overload the invidious instances.
The key is trying out different VPN locations.
This Invidious instance still works. Don’t push it too hard, though: it’s all we’ve got.
Also, if you log in to YouTube in Chromium or something (assuming you’re on desktop) and then use yt-dlp with the
--cookies-from-browser chromiumargument, it should work. This is also possible on Android via Termux and iOS via iSH if you copy~/.config/chromiumto the app.Freetube connecting to local invidous node.
TBH I just use youtube.com in my browser (Floorp/Firefox) with uBlock Origin. With SmartTube on my TV.
The alternative front ends or apps don’t seem to support loading my watch history, playlists, or subscriptions, and they don’t sync between my devices even if I manually import stuff. Making usability an absolute nightmare.
That makes sense for your use case. My use case is that I don’t want my YT watching habits being scooped up if I can help it. At one point I might not have cared too much about things like YT, but under the current administration I have a lot more reservations about that.
ReVanced does on android, just make sure you get the legit one from git. Takes a few steps to setup, but works perfectly, history and all.
The problem is how do I get my history and everything on desktop and android TV then, does it sync with other apps or my google account or something like that?
I just sign in, it shows it all. I have to go back through and delete videos my kid watched cause it fucked up my feed. His account is age restricted, it won’t let him sign in on the tablet. I need to look into it more, but the history definitely syncs from smarttube to revanced and YouTube in Firefox on my desktop
Try using different countries. E.g. I sometimes had luck by using Brazil, Chile or other ones. I’ve recently hadn’t had much issues when viewing through Grayjay (on Android). But also not from FreeTube (on Ubuntu/Desktop)
FreeTube has been working for me with Mullvad VPN set to Swedish servers. Also https://inv.nadeko.net/ if I need to share links with anyone.
Good to know. I was using FreeTube on a Linux machine I have set up to do most of my Youtube watching, but I had to disable VPN. I got tired of trying different countries and just turned off VPN. I’ll try Swedish servers…
:3
I watch YouTube with FreeTube on the desktop, and Tubular on mobile. Both are always over VPN, and anonymous (not logged in).
I haven’t logged into YouTube in literal years.
I use Freetube on PC and some NewPipe fork AND Freetube on Android. The Android one has been breaking as of late. :-(
SmartTube on TV and Newpipe on mobile, always VPNd.
