Not even speaking about all the ads in the default YouTube app without a subscription.

The app is basically useless in my opinion. It defaults to freaking 240p for every video. My phone is definitively not the problem, also not the Internet connection. Watching in Firefox on the same connection gives me normal expected quality.

This was better on some “feature phones” without touchscreen!!! YouTube app works and playback is in 720p / 1080p

  • Fake4000
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    681 year ago

    One word, Revanced.

    • SonnyVabitch
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      381 year ago

      Several words: mobile Firefox, ad block, disable youtube app, disable known links to youtube.

      • @[email protected]
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        691 year ago

        Several more words:

        Obtuse, rubber goose, green moose, guava juice Giant snake, birthday cake, large fries, chocolate shake!

        • @Why9
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          41 year ago

          Thank you.

          It’s always so refreshing to see someone do the thing you were expecting would happen!

          I’m wondering how to get “shiny teeth and me” into a comment somewhere…

      • @woelkchen
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        31 year ago

        And what would be the benefit over Revanced?

        • SonnyVabitch
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          51 year ago

          Nothing, I this person I know of just had FF and adblock set up already for other reasons, so all I they had to do was stop the youtube app hijacking its own links.

            • 👁️👄👁️
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              41 year ago

              It works with the addon enabled, just like desktop firefox. But right now it’s a bitch to manually install addons on the android version, so it’s a lot of work. I just use newpipe-sponserblock. Or also LibreTube is also nice while also having sponserblock built in.

                • @PainInTheAES
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                  11 year ago

                  To install desktop add-ons you need to use nightly and create an add-on collection to sync. But sponsor block might have a mobile version that you can install from the settings section of the normal app.

              • deepfriedchril
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                11 year ago

                TIL I’ll have to check on those other clients too, thanks p

        • @[email protected]
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          11 year ago

          No need for side loading apps. So works on all phones. Phones that are remotely admin have this feature off.

          • @LukeMedia
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            11 year ago

            Firefox can’t load plugins on iPhones anyway. If you’re on Android, and it’s a personal device, ReVanced is a better experience.

    • 👁️👄👁️
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      191 year ago

      I searched for Revanced and the top 3 results were malware, with the 4th being the real website lol. Thank God for uBlock saving my ass.

      • @[email protected]
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        61 year ago

        Yes, always search it on github and tell people to find it on github if you can’t provide a link for them.

        • 👁️👄👁️
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          31 year ago

          They should really just host their own fdroid repo with binaries of pre-patched apps at their default enabled patches.

          • @[email protected]
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            81 year ago

            They do not distribute any binaries to avoid copyright issues I believe. There are some telegram channels doing what you described, but I wouldn’t trust it enough to use it.

      • Bappity
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        31 year ago

        OBS was victim to this a while back. it was almost indistinguishable from the real sites so pretty dangerous

        • 👁️👄👁️
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          41 year ago

          Mostly a windows issue there though, Linux and OSX have app stores to install that. Revanced is able to, and just doesn’t for some reason. It’s a massive security issue for many reasons, and this is a prime example of it. Especially given the app needs a ton of access on your device to operate. It’s mind-blowing to me that people recommend this at all, and why there’s no repo for it.

          • @[email protected]
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            11 year ago

            Revanced can’t exist as a standalone app to be installed like from a store. Google would nuke it. It has to be a patcher. Original Vanced was a standalone app and that is what allowed Google to nuke it from orbit. It’s arguable that Google ignored Vanced until the developers got money grubby and tried making NFTs, but the method they used for takedown was DMCA since it was their app just modified.

            This is the same thing as ROM hacks, randomizers, etc and why they include a place to upload your own copy of the ROM rather than providing their own. Reverse engineering and modifying are legal, distributing copyright source, binaries, or blobs without the rightsholder permissions is not.

            They also do have a repo for it, as well as the offshoot apps like Revanced manager, other app patches, etc. The fact it’s not at the top of Google results is a Google-and-SEO problem, not a Revanced problem.

            If you want a one and done app install then something like Newpipe is what you want, which is built completely on its own. Revanced is explicitly not that, it’s the stock app hacked up. IMHO, Revanced is a nicer experience, but they are two very different experiences and approaches.

    • @MeanEYE
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      31 year ago

      Now this sounds like a good solution. F-Droid store is serious enough about security so I don’t have to worry about applications there.

  • @[email protected]
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    311 year ago

    You default to 240 because your internet sucks or you need to change the default setting. I get 720 all the time and could go higher if I wanted. I never see 240.

    This is a you issue and not an app issue.

    • @GeneralEmergency
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      31 year ago

      There are so many of these threads that just boil down to “I am the problem I just can’t admit it”

      • @[email protected]
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        21 year ago

        But this is a real issue. Video playback on my phone usually starts at 480p but on my laptop it starts at 1080p. Both are connected to the same network.

        • @Vub
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          -11 year ago

          And how many pixels wide is your phone in the direction you watch videos?

          • @[email protected]
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            1 year ago

            Its a full HD screen same as my laptop (similar number of pixels but much higher pixel density for the phone)

    • @feef
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      31 year ago

      Tbf my official YouTube also defaults to some shitty quality even on wifi, on my desktop and tv it always goes to 4k. I’ve also configured it to high picture quality or whatever.

        • @feef
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          21 year ago

          My settings are set to the highest quality.

          I’m using revamped now anyway, and it works flawlessly.

  • @[email protected]
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    1 year ago

    I’ve been using YouTube Vanced for years, and now ReVanced, after Vanced got killed. it’s a bit tedious to set up on non rooted phones, but even then, it’s such a huge upgrade. no ads, let you pick your own quality, SponsorBlock built in, background play, lots of payout control options.

    • katy ✨
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      51 year ago

      I pay for Premium but I still use Revanced just for the sponsorblock feature. It’s great!

      • @[email protected]
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        61 year ago

        I remember Vanced being simpler, only making you download the patched app, where ReVanced wants you to uninstall your YouTube updates, find the APK of a specific version, then patch it. not exactly hard for most enthusiasts but still out of reach for most. absolutely worth it though!

        • @[email protected]
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          21 year ago

          So can google ban your account you use revanced. I’m just using newpipe since you don’t have to log in at all due to that fear.

          • @[email protected]
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            1 year ago

            I think they technically could, but won’t, and never have. using ReVanced isn’t nearly as much of a legal problem as Vanced, because ReVanced isn’t directly providing modified versions of the official app (which would be redistributing modified copyrighted material), and even then, only team Vanced themselves suffered the consequences, by being forced to shut down. Modifying whatever for your own personal use doesn’t come with any copyright issues.

            Banning people who use ReVanced would be like banning people who use adblockers on desktop. not only it’s not sure if that is actually against their terms of services (they can probably make the argument that ad-less playback is supposed to be a paid feature, and getting it for free is bad), they would never realistically go out of their way to ban everyone who figured out a way to have YouTube without ads. how about browsers with built-in adblockers? how about people who set up adblockers at their router’s level, impacting everyone else connected to it?

            it’s never impossible that they do it, but so far it has never happened. no website has ever banned its users for using adblockers; at most, they would display a popup forcing you to disable it to access the site (youtube actually does that, but said popup is just as easily blocked than ads themselves). considering the huge amount of "what if"s, I don’t believe it will ever happen, especially not with no warnings.

            #not legal advice

    • @MeanEYE
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      11 year ago

      YouTube ReVanced

      This is always my main fear.

  • @ruabmbuaOP
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    201 year ago

    Not to forget: the adds are high definition anyway…

    • grrk
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      101 year ago

      This fucking infuriates me whenever i dont have an adblocker available. Since my connection speed is sub par, buffering is frequent unless it’s at a low quality. So to watch a video without buffering, i gotta set the video to low quality (240-480p) only for A FUCKING 1080P UNSKIPPABLE AD TO JUST CUT IN AND PLAY PERFECTLY FOR 15 SECONDS before casually dropping me back down to 360p, only after buffering once more when the ad ends before the fucking video finally resumes

    • @bighatchester
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      11 year ago

      I would not be able to use YouTube without premium these days since there are so many ads . I find on my phone it usually plays 720 if I’m connected to wifi , there is an option in the settings to pick what quality it will play for wifi or data

  • 𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒏
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    191 year ago

    Quite a few NewPipe mentions here 😁. Another option is NewPipe SponsorBlock, which has support for Return Youtube Dislike and of course SponsorBlock

    • @[email protected]
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      31 year ago

      SmartTube beta is meant for Android TV devices, but it just works fine on phones too, and it also has SponsorBlock AND account login.

  • Hellfire103
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    121 year ago

    Yeah, I switched to Invidious a long time ago. If you want an app, I’d also recommend NewPipe (for Android), and either Yattee (for iOS) or Piped (as a PWA).

  • @Jackthelad
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    121 year ago

    Even when I select “higher quality” on WiFi, it still defaults to 480p.

    And then I have to manually select 1080 every time.

    • @ruabmbuaOP
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      31 year ago

      So this is not some corner case problem for me… I honestly do not care, rarely watch on the phone. Maybe because it depresses me that technology is moving backwards in some sense 😐

  • @[email protected]
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    101 year ago

    Use the Firefox nightly build and you can bring your desktop experience to mobile.

    Not only can you use sponsorblock but also ublock origin. Plus you can use picture in picture and play the videos with your phone locked by default

    Its literal perfect fir my usage

    • LUHG
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      01 year ago

      But we have apps that do that. Clipious. Newpipe. Libretube.

      • @[email protected]
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        01 year ago

        Yes, but there are drawbacks to each one. For example, with new pipe, if I find a channel that I like I have to remember to like it on all of my devices individually.

        I’d much rather use the mobile YouTube as it works perfectly and I can use any add-on I wish to modify the experience without issue.

        • @Fungah
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          21 year ago

          I couldn’t imagine signing into YouTube. Or really watching YouTube for any extended period

          For me it’s exclusively something I sit through while infuriatsd that I’m having to watch a fucking video instead of reading a writeup on it.

          Seriously. Do you people actually enjoy having to hit the fucking pause button and clicking back 9000 times? What the fuck.

          • @[email protected]
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            11 year ago

            I listen to a lot of media, like Manhwa recaps, audiobooks, podcasts, true crime.

            Some days I click on YouTube once at 10am when I wake up and sit down in front of the computer and once again after my day is over and I go to bed.

            YouTube is more than educational videos or prank videos.

            You should look into “YouTube Longform content”

            This is content, usually over 2 hours, that’s highly entertaining and comprehensive.

            Consider PatricianTV

            They made a Skyrim retrospective that was 20 hours long Part 1 Part 2

            It’s not a let’s play or anything of the like. It’s an actual factual longform review

            Not only is it a masterpiece, but it’s a comprehensive masterpiece.

        • rurutheguru
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          -31 year ago

          This guy has lots of devices. 1st world problems, so sad. (Just kidding though) What if you dedicate one device to watching YouTube? Or is your approach to devices truly this chaotic that you have to have every app on every device? Why even have more than one device then?

          • @[email protected]
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            41 year ago

            God forbid you watch videos in your tv, computer and phone depending on what you’re doing during the day

          • @[email protected]
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            21 year ago

            I like the ability to move around to different devices and be able to keep the same video.

            I love Manhwa recaps, audiobooks, etc. There are like 12 hours long sometimes. So it’s so much more convent to walk away from my computer and go to the bathroom or lay down and It just picks right up from the same part in the story.

            90% of the time YouTube is running on monitor #2, but the convenience factor of the last 10% can make life worth living sometimes.

            • rurutheguru
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              11 year ago

              That’s awesome if that works for you. By all means, sacrifice privacy for comfort. It’s not affecting you in the immediate short term, so why not? We’re all different and it doesn’t help trying to prescribe approaches to intetnet strangers. But yeah, I still get your frustration. A short while ago these weren’t such consistent issues. We’re at a crossroads, Twitter, Google, Apple, Microsoft, shit’s changing y’all.

              The choice, as always, is up to you. And the all too familiar factor of comfort is always threatening to lull you into capitalist oblivion. You are a number, you are a statistic, a means to an end… But not necessarily. Choose your battles. Set those boundaries. Protect yourself and be awake. Yo bro, you woke? I’d rather be woke than aslope.

    • @ruabmbuaOP
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      31 year ago

      Does not work will use the same 240p shit quality.