YouTube slows down video load times when using Firefox

Post by lucideer » Mon, Nov 20, 2023, 2:28 PM UTC

asddubs wrote: post #110

lucideer wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is a good example of corporations being made up of people, rather than being contiguous coordinated entities as many of us sometimes think of them. An engineer doing "good engineering" on a feature typically depends not only on them being a "good engineer" but also on them having some actual interest in implementing that feature.

I would imagine that in a well coordinated company engaging in this kind of thing, the order wouldn't be "slow down firefox", but something along the lines of "use XYZ feature that firefox doesn't support and then use this polyfill for FF, which happens to be slow". Something that doesn't look too incriminating during any potential discovery process, while still getting you what you want.

Post by tgsovlerkhgsel » Mon, Nov 20, 2023, 2:30 PM UTC

imiric wrote: post #49

blueflow wrote: post #31

If you are fluent with the terminal, you don't need to suffer from the YT Web UI. Install mpv and yt-dlp. Play videos like this: mpv [--no-video] "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9zVjEZ7W8Q" Option in brackets is optional.

This is the way. I really don't understand why any technically proficient user would willingly use any of the official YouTube frontends. You get bombarded with ads, you're constantly tracked and experimented on, and your behavior is used to improve their algorithms in order to keep you on the site for as long as possible. It's a hostile user experience, just like most of the mainstream web. Whenever possible, I sugg…

Post by beej71 » Mon, Nov 20, 2023, 2:34 PM UTC

taylodl wrote: post #310

foob wrote: post #219

I use Firefox, and Google's sites are literally the only ones where I consistently have issues. There was a period of about a month this summer where Google Maps was just completely broken for me, the map wouldn't update at all when attempting to search or pan. There was recently a several day span where chat in Gmail had a 10+ second input lag due to some font-related JavaScript code spinning the CPU nonstop. It's l…

It's clear Google is only testing for chrome engine and safari: which comprise 97% of the browsers being used. Would you increase your testing by 50% to thoroughly test for 3% of the market?

Post by Vvector » Mon, Nov 20, 2023, 2:37 PM UTC

Aardwolf wrote: post #303

lifthrasiir wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is not correct. The surrounding code gives some more context: h=document.createElement("video");l=new Blob([new Uint8Array([/* snip */])],{type:"video/webm"}); h.src=lc(Mia(l));h.ontimeupdate=function(){c();a.resolve(0)}; e.appendChild(h);h.classList.add("html5-main-video");setTimeout(function(){e.classList.add("ad-interrupting")},200); setTimeout(function(){c();a.resolve(1)},5E3); return m.return(a.promise)})}…

I couldn't reproduce the 5s wait in multiple scenarios in Firefox (various combinations of being logged in / not being logged in / without adblocker / with adblocker) and couldn't reproduce a 5s wait time in any of them, it played back immediately in each case (when without adblocker, using a second video to have one start without ad). I tested on Linux. What exact combination of circumstances is required to trigger…

Post by bratwurst3000 » Mon, Nov 20, 2023, 2:39 PM UTC

jonathanstrange wrote: post #148

bluescrn wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I ran into the adblocker-blocker (Firefox + uBlock Origin), I noticed that I could watch videos if logged out. So I just stayed logged out, and haven't seen an anti-adblock message since. Or an ad. Added bonus, I'm less tempted to venture into the comments section...

I'm using Firefox + uBlock Origin logged in and it works totally fine. Maybe Youtube removed the anti-adblocker on select accounts? I remember I once entertained myself with writing a report in which I sounded like I'm sitting in a retirement home and have no clue what's going on with "ad block." Did perhaps someone actually read this?