Nice app! I use newpipe sometimes but I didn't have anything good for desktop. I wish there was a BSD version though..
we could compile our own binaries ;)
FreeTube – A Private YouTube Client
201–210 of 259 posts
Re: FreeTube – A Private YouTube Client
#202Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is how I feel about all the bold circumvention of paywalls. It’s a legally fuzzy area in some cases, but to me at least, it is basically people saying, “here, let me help you steal!”
YouTube could kill all of this by simply forcing a login to watch anything but they won't because they're cowards.
They can't, because one of several YouTube competitors (Dailymotion, Vimeo, DTube, Twitch, etc...) would replace them and not force logins.
YouTube is about the content creators, and people and advertisers will go, where they are at. So if there is a mass exodus of content creators and users, YouTube is pretty much finished.
Re: FreeTube – A Private YouTube Client
#203I have had a love-hate relationship with YouTube for a long time. On the one hand, many channels put out great content that I want to watch. But the recommended videos feature is exceptional at hooking into my reptilian brain and getting me to waste a lot of time on junk that I later regret as a big waste of time. I looked into a lot of alternative clients, including FreeTube, in an attempt to solve this. I use Tube…
Darnit, I already wrote the rest of the comment below before noticing the "iOS" part of your comment. These are all Firefox add-ons for the desktop. Still, I'll post them in case they're useful to anyone else.
I use the unhook add-on for that, it removes all recommended videos:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-recom...
There's also clickbait remover to get rid of those obnoxious thumbnails:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/clickbait-rem...
youtube-audio lets you disable the video-feed. Nice when you're using it to listen to what are basically podcasts and you don't want to waste bandwidth:
https://github.com/animeshkundu/youtube-audio
And while we're here, SponsorBlock skips sponsored segments:
Re: FreeTube – A Private YouTube Client
#204People 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…
Haha. It does not work that way. You have no control over recommendations or the effectiveness of the advertising it is designed to optimise.
The problem with "tech" companies is not simply advertising. It is control. If the user cedes control of their computer to the "tech" company, then the company may use it for advertising. But the user has no control over how the company exercises its control. There are no legal limits. The use being made of the computer is ultimately for the benefit of the company, not the user.
The company decides what to show the user. Given the monpolistic nature of how these companies operate, e.g., "tech" proponents will argue YouTube has no viable alternatives, if the user is not satisfied, then it's tough apples.
The company might decide the user is a sub-optimal target for advertising. Then what. This could affect what the user is sent as "recommendations".
The issue is one of control. Under the "tech" company model of computer and internet use, the user gives away control. In return, she gets "convenience". She can be passive and consume what is chosen for her, but there is no guarantee of satisfaction. The system is designed to benefit the company.
Re: FreeTube – A Private YouTube Client
#205I see this is based on Electron. Do you have any plans to release a progressive web app? That would be a nice addition to win/mac/linux apps
I would also like it run in-browser. Is this technically possible?
Re: FreeTube – A Private YouTube Client
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
I have seen that kind of thing a few different places and I just plain decline to believe that it isn't done with knowledge. Active items that are already clickable that change location as a page loads drive me nuts, but these particularly convenient examples add another dimension to that.
If it makes money, it was intentional
Re: FreeTube – A Private YouTube Client
#207Is there any private application which can (or could potentially) auto download videos to a phone overnight?
To update my own answer: You can use shortcuts to run a yt-dlp on youtube videos, which you find from an RSS feed of the youtube channel. Requires 'a-shell mini', shortcuts app, ffmpeg, and some patience.
Re: FreeTube – A Private YouTube Client
#208I 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
Evading the ads and tracking is an act of self-defence. Nobody is entitled to deploy their brainwashing machines on people's minds, just because it makes them money and they happen to be the gatekeepers to the world's videos.
> simply don't use it
This is not always an option.
Re: FreeTube – A Private YouTube Client
#209Thought about that concept some time ago, glad to see someone else has made it!
I'd love to have plugins for various video services in there, to use the same client for other video services (such as Rumble).
This concept could also be used for creating a Twitter client, where it would follow people by scraping their feeds, support alternative platforms like Gettr, and send nothing but the bare minimum to the server.
Re: FreeTube – A Private YouTube Client
#210Is there any private application which can (or could potentially) auto download videos to a phone overnight?
you could probably do this over iCloud. Set your phone to download all files, run the ffmpeg script on your computer and place the files in iCloud. If you need a to open the iCloud app to force a sync, use Shortcuts to open the app at 3am or whatever.
If you're on Android, a program like Tasker could and Google Drive could likely accomplish the same results.