I wouldn’t call them ‘better’ alternatives. They’re easier to install for sure. Personally, I’ve used revanced, newpipe, and libretube and love them all. I stuck with newpipe, since that’s what my family uses now, and it’s easier to troubleshoot when I have it too. And revanced takes some steps, more than just “install this package, done”.
They aren’t better IF you enjoy most of YouTubes features. Usability is key, and messing around with Revanced manager twice a year has been worth it easily.
I appreciate your viewpoint, as it’s a part of what makes the software development community so great. I don’t necessarily agree with it, personally, since they all rely on proprietary backend (YouTube), but I truly do appreciate it.
I just don’t want any proprietary software on my devices (for many reasons, most importantly privacy and user freedom). I can use a VPN to privately connect to the YouTube backend, but things get much harder when the proprietary spyware is actually on my device.
I don’t disagree with this point. Calling them objectively better however, is not covering the whole story imo. They are objectively better if your goal is to deproprietarize (not a real word) as much as possible. But if your goal is to just block ads as seamlessly as possible while still keeping all other features in YouTube, then those FOSS apps drop to subjectively better.
Well yeah, I agree. FOSS apps do lack features like logging in (to a Google account), the recommendation algorithm, etc. On the other hand, ReVanced is not exactly easy to install for new users. Both approaches are valid and get the job done (blocking annoying ads). I appreciate the calm and pleasant conversation.
I agree completely. It’s actually why I went with NewPipe as a recommendation to family and friends. After a few months using it, I really didn’t miss the original YouTube app, and it has become, when combined with the ease of installation, my go-to recommendation for Android users who want to block ads and be able to play audio in the background with the screen off. All of these solutions have the potential to temporarily break as google (needlessly, imo) fights them. The FOSS solutions fix is to apply the update, where as revanced is to re-revance the YouTube app (not so simple).
And as for your calm and pleasant comment, I try to always be : ) we’re (mostly) all here to have a conversation (at least, I treat everyone as though they are, until they show me otherwise lol). So, thank you : )
Which one of those do I pick if I actually want to be logged in and have Youtube keep track of my watch history, automatically synchronized between devices?
If you want to use YouTube for that, it seems like ReVanced is your only option. But you can also create an account on a Piped instance, and have your playlists synced. LibreTube is the only app that supports this.
Revanced with MicroG. I use YouTube 50/50 on mobile and Shield (SmartTube) and if my watch history, subscriptions etc. didn’t work, I wouldn’t be using it.
It doesn’t work, because it relies on Piped/Invidious. Both are currently broken, because Google is trying everything to block third party clients/APIs/proxies for YouTube.
Brave can also block YT ads, but I’m not so sure about the extensions. If all you care about is blocking ads, brave is good enough. If you care about sponsorblock and many other FF extensions, Orion is probably way better.
Android: revanced manager
Pc: firefox+ublock+dearrow+sponsorblock
AndroidTv: smartTubeNext
I haven’t seen an ad in years
There are better alternatives for Android like NewPipe, Tubular and LibreTube
For PC, you can use FreeTube
I wouldn’t call them ‘better’ alternatives. They’re easier to install for sure. Personally, I’ve used revanced, newpipe, and libretube and love them all. I stuck with newpipe, since that’s what my family uses now, and it’s easier to troubleshoot when I have it too. And revanced takes some steps, more than just “install this package, done”.
I’d say they are objectively better, because are independent, free & open source apps, instead of relying on patching Google’s proprietary software.
They aren’t better IF you enjoy most of YouTubes features. Usability is key, and messing around with Revanced manager twice a year has been worth it easily.
Being OS doesn’t suddenly make worse UX better.
I appreciate your viewpoint, as it’s a part of what makes the software development community so great. I don’t necessarily agree with it, personally, since they all rely on proprietary backend (YouTube), but I truly do appreciate it.
I just don’t want any proprietary software on my devices (for many reasons, most importantly privacy and user freedom). I can use a VPN to privately connect to the YouTube backend, but things get much harder when the proprietary spyware is actually on my device.
I don’t disagree with this point. Calling them objectively better however, is not covering the whole story imo. They are objectively better if your goal is to deproprietarize (not a real word) as much as possible. But if your goal is to just block ads as seamlessly as possible while still keeping all other features in YouTube, then those FOSS apps drop to subjectively better.
Well yeah, I agree. FOSS apps do lack features like logging in (to a Google account), the recommendation algorithm, etc. On the other hand, ReVanced is not exactly easy to install for new users. Both approaches are valid and get the job done (blocking annoying ads). I appreciate the calm and pleasant conversation.
I agree completely. It’s actually why I went with NewPipe as a recommendation to family and friends. After a few months using it, I really didn’t miss the original YouTube app, and it has become, when combined with the ease of installation, my go-to recommendation for Android users who want to block ads and be able to play audio in the background with the screen off. All of these solutions have the potential to temporarily break as google (needlessly, imo) fights them. The FOSS solutions fix is to apply the update, where as revanced is to re-revance the YouTube app (not so simple).
And as for your calm and pleasant comment, I try to always be : ) we’re (mostly) all here to have a conversation (at least, I treat everyone as though they are, until they show me otherwise lol). So, thank you : )
Which one of those do I pick if I actually want to be logged in and have Youtube keep track of my watch history, automatically synchronized between devices?
If you want to use YouTube for that, it seems like ReVanced is your only option. But you can also create an account on a Piped instance, and have your playlists synced. LibreTube is the only app that supports this.
Revanced with MicroG. I use YouTube 50/50 on mobile and Shield (SmartTube) and if my watch history, subscriptions etc. didn’t work, I wouldn’t be using it.
Obligatory post mentioning that Freetube exists on Android as well. With Syncthing, I sync history, playlists and subscriptions. It’s brilliant.
I know that it exists, I don’t think it’s a particularly good solution on Android though. There are native apps like the ones I mentioned before.
Btw syncing an SQLite database with syncthing sounds painful. How often do you have to deal with sync conflicts?
What’s the difference between smart tube and smatttubenext?
it’s the one after
deleted by creator
It doesn’t work, because it relies on Piped/Invidious. Both are currently broken, because Google is trying everything to block third party clients/APIs/proxies for YouTube.
I use the Orion browser with uBlock Origin installed and get 0 ads on YouTube.
Brave can also block YT ads, but I’m not so sure about the extensions. If all you care about is blocking ads, brave is good enough. If you care about sponsorblock and many other FF extensions, Orion is probably way better.
Firestick: https://www.firesticktricks.com/