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FreeTube – A Private YouTube Client

freetubeapp.io

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Re: FreeTube – A Private YouTube Client

#142
I am looking for a Youtube Client or an API that takes me back to that time where you had an opportunity to go to the crazy side of Youtube. No, I am not looking for gore or conspiracy stuff - But you get the point.

You start looking at a video from vSauce and then some videos later you are seeing how zebras communicate and what we can learn from it (just an example)

Closest I have seen is an extension that adds an random button but I feel that also lacks what I feel I have been looking for.

Going through screenshots of this client, I couldnt find it (or maybe not listed on the page). Anyone has anything similar they have been using?

Re: FreeTube – A Private YouTube Client

#143
post #100
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Precisely this. I go to YouTube, see a whole lot of nothing , and then I promptly leave. It's an interest desert. I always read and hear of YouTube being lauded for its recommendations, but to me it has always been the weakest video content site and social network. It doesn't do either job particularly well, at least not in a way that engages me for long. I like science and geopolitical content, but the typical YouTu…

what geopolitical and science do you read/follow? I can find pretty alright science (either very high level or just papers at some point, some industry niche websites strike a better balance), but not that many geopolitical sites I feel good about

Caspian report is good

Re: FreeTube – A Private YouTube Client

#144
post #53

People here talking about how they don't want YouTube to make a profile of their preferences, and here I am, wishing YouTube had a better profile of my preferences. Lately, there is almost no new videos in my recommendation feed. It's mostly either the things I've already watched or new videos from the channels I'm already subscribed to. It really feels like I've exhausted the internet at some point. This can't possi…

I basically never rewatch videos I watched, unless I search for a specific one, yet Youtube consistently shows me tons of videos I watched, with full red bar and everything. First I thought just not paying attention to them would slowly teach the algorithm that I'm just not interested, then I thought marking each such video as "not interested" would help. I gave up and installed "YouTube: Hide Watched Videos - by Ev Haus" script into Tampermonkey to finally get rid of those, and now about 50% of my Youtube home screen is empty space.

Re: FreeTube – A Private YouTube Client

#145
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For instance, my IP changes when I travel, but I’m an American who speaks English, and yet YouTube insists in showing me local ads in different languages when I’m in foreign countries, despite having my home address (verified with my credit card no less!!!) That’s just laughable. I bet those advertisers that are wasting money on ads that you don't understand aren't laughing

For years YouTubes top hero banner purposely loaded quite a bit later than the rest of the page. I never noticed it, until I moved to Spain for a while. Our place had slow internet, and I watched my roommates hit the ad multiple times a day on accident because it loaded right into where the search box was exactly as you’d naturally click there.

Just hit the / and go straight to the search bar (on a pc)

Re: FreeTube – A Private YouTube Client

#146
post #53

People here talking about how they don't want YouTube to make a profile of their preferences, and here I am, wishing YouTube had a better profile of my preferences. Lately, there is almost no new videos in my recommendation feed. It's mostly either the things I've already watched or new videos from the channels I'm already subscribed to. It really feels like I've exhausted the internet at some point. This can't possi…

Maybe I'm old school but if I want to spend time watching videos and have no suggestions (nearly always the case because I block everything) I ask myself what I want to watch and search for it. YouTube has a search box. No idea about Netflix / Prime.

To give an example. I want to watch scifi. Lately I've been spending some time browsing the last years of the Dust channel on YouTube. It turns out that the general mood of those videos is depressing so I quit after a couple of days. I searched Google and asked friends. I'm watching Missions now https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missions_(TV_series)

Re: FreeTube – A Private YouTube Client

#147
post #105
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you might not be understanding the context of the argument. Google has tons of information on you - way more than it needs, and yet it still doesn’t get recommendations as good as we expect (as you rightly point out). So the issue is that it has tons of extra data than they need because it * doesn’t make their recommendation any better.* Gathering data for the sake of gathering data in todays world of informa…

> Google has tons of information on you Do you have any good sources about this? what do we know for sure Google know and track about us? I work for Google now, but speak for myself here. In my time here (not much, less than a year still) I've seen a huge focus on privacy and not storing user data. Then again, I don't work on ads. However, even before working at Google I was surprised that given my liberal sharing of…

[deleted]

Re: FreeTube – A Private YouTube Client

#148
post #53

People here talking about how they don't want YouTube to make a profile of their preferences, and here I am, wishing YouTube had a better profile of my preferences. Lately, there is almost no new videos in my recommendation feed. It's mostly either the things I've already watched or new videos from the channels I'm already subscribed to. It really feels like I've exhausted the internet at some point. This can't possi…

I do not think there is a correlation between the amount of tracking and the quality of recommendations.

Your assumption is that it is in Google's interest to show you stuff that interests you. That is wrong. They just want to maximize the time you spend on their platform. These two are not necessarily the same.

Re: FreeTube – A Private YouTube Client

#149

I think as developers we have to be careful that we don't overstep logical boundaries. Youtube provides a free service that hosts immense volumes of video and creates an ecosystem allowing creators to earn a living. It's selfish to use the services of YouTube while removing their main source of revenue. If you have a problem with YouTube's tracking, simply don't use it

I would've made this same argument a year ago.

Today I think it's morally acceptable to circumvent tracking, advertising, etc. for behemoths like YouTube, Google, etc. They are simply too powerful, and have too much mindshare. There's nothing close to YouTube in terms of ubiquity. I don't have any sympathy for a monopoly, and I hope that YouTube's days are numbered so that a more open alternative like PeerTube can take its place.

My only real concern is channel owners. I want them to be able to be reasonably compensated for their work today.

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