After google took down Vanced (a custom hacked youtube viewer with no ads and a ton of features), some people on github have made an even more robust and open version called ReVanced. Since the youtube monopoly implies we’re forced to use this shit platform anyways, what do y’all think of this tool for android phones?
Edit: I should’ve made it “Youtube alternative frontend appreciation thread” because y’all suggested many good ones I hadn’t heard of.
I use it all the tim, works perfectly for me. Occasionally I’ll use NewPipe, but unfortunately I find the YouTube recommendation algorithm useful for finding things to watch (even leftist content) so I’ve been finding it difficult to switch fully.
Works well for me too.
I think I like the YouTube player, plus the playlists, and watch later. And the algorithm is okay to find new stuff.
I prefer newpipe to avoid youtube’s anti features like its recommendation feed and so on.
Edit: also newpipe is free software
I wasn’t aware newpipe was it’s own whole thing, I only used it so far as the download backend to revanced itself. Will check it out!
It looks decent, though I prefer NewPipe.
Maybe it’s a matter of personal taste by I prefer Smart Tube , which has imo more features and SponsorBlock integration.
Plus it works on smart TVs
Looks pretty good too! Hadn’t heard of it yet (probably because of social media monopolies hushing it), but will keep it in mind if issues arise with revanced. Though, as a heads up in case either gets taken down, revanced has recently added Sponsorblock support and I use it a lot.
I just use Invidious or Piped, but I don’t know if they have good Android clients
I’ve used it since it has come out. It’s pretty good with a decent amount of customization which I like. First installing it can be a pain in the ass as well as updating it but I find it worth it to avoid ads and stuff
I’ve been using new pipe as well. I have some subscriptions that are exclusively on that app, and I otherwise just share YouTube links from the web browser to watch on new pipe and have new pipe be the default app for all the links it supports. I also just completely disabled the YouTube app
I went from New Pipe -> Vanced -> ReVenced -> ReVanced Extended and I’m happiest with the latter. I know it’s not FOSS but sometimes I have to make a compromise for UX
Vanced still worked for me on some days until yesterday, now the app won’t even open. I’ve tried downloading ReVanced but it seemed like more effort than i was willing to put in at the time so i just switched to browser with ads blocked
I’ve been struggling with it lately actually. For some reason it doesn’t really work on my phone. The videos will play the first minute at most, then stop loading. Regular YouTube doesn’t have that problem.
Before that started though, I found ReVanced much better than the official app. Would recommend
Yeah, it had some issues like that when I first patched it. I think Google rolls out some randomized changes that screw it up. When that bug popped up for me, videos would work fine on incognito mode. Maybe that could work for you too.
Most of the time I don’t watch videos on my phone, so I just use the normal youtube app even if it has ads, but if I need to listen some music I use NewPipe.
Idk if ReVanced is easy to setup or not rn (i.e. It requires a specific version of youtube).
