Looking for FreeTube alternatives
hey guys, I always play YT videos, say focus/instrumental musics, in the background whenever I work on my MBP. I found that YT web (& safari) was eating up both my memory and battery, while running. Then I came to know about FreeTube from one of the posts of u/amerpie and I liked it during my initial usage since it does what it says! However over a week ago, I started facing issues like "IP address is blocked by YouTube, please sign in to continue". I learned that YT does it to these apps that block ads, prevent them from scavenging horrendous amount of user data. When I searched for a solution about it on r/FreeTube, some suggested to uninstall the latest version and download the previous version (specially, 23.15). I did the same, but I still observe below issues while using: Video section of any channel results in a empty screen (refer screenshot 1 vs ss2 from YT web) Playlist (ss3) of any channels show no videos (refer ss4 vs ss5 from YT web) Even now I sometimes get errors like "Bad HTTPS Timeout" and video stops to play So, is this how FreeTube app works all the time? Or am I doing something wrong with it? I am not hell-bound with freetube, and would switch to other apps if it fulfills my requirements: Native app (if possible), not a memory-hog I don't need an ability to download videos offline, I am fine with streaming anytime I just want it to be a simple, memory/energy-efficient streaming app
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You could consider using Firefox with the plugin uBlock Origin and make a PWA with it for YouTube. This also works great with Downie.
I already use uBlock Origin plugin (along with Baking soda, Vinegar, Noir) in Safari. I have enabled few uBlock's blocklists but unsure about PWA. can you explain a bit? Heard great about Downie, but since I am not downloading contents offline - I don't find it useful for me
PWA = Progressive Web App. With most browsers you can make a PWA. Which more or less behaves like a standalone app.
I have recently started using the Helium browser, which cuts out the YT ads by default. It's fast and lightweight, so far I'm pretty impressed.
Will consider trying this!
I developed an app for Mac called Mira. It is Mac native, stable, and very lightweight. It has integrated SponsorBlock, so it auto-skips sponsors, intros, recaps and other interruptions. It also makes YouTube transcripts searchable, summarizes videos with AI, and has Watch Together rooms so you can watch videos in sync with friends. (It also works for iPhone and iPad too) App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mira-focused-video-player/id6767721654
Oh looks good! Will try this;)
Mira - Focused Video Player — by Hershkovitz Bros LLC Ratings: 4 (across 1 storefront) · 3 reviews Average: 4.50 ★ Age: released ~1 month ago · rated 17+ Overall score: 80.1 / 100
https://apps.apple.com/pl/app/smart-tube-bdp/id6761388918?l=pl Inteligentna lampa BDP, or maybe an even better one for YouTube and more https://apps.apple.com/us/app/menubarx-floating-browser/id1575588022?mt=12
thanks for sharing! I installed both, and found smart tube BDP to be little buggy. I now using Menubar-X but it doesn't let you block ads/cookies. You need to buy pro (4.99$) to enable ad blocking and few more (see below). Will update you about my decision/experience...
There's also https://apps.apple.com/pl/app/unwatched-for-youtube/id6477287463?l=pl Unwatched for YouTube, but I don't remember exactly how it worked.
I use Brave browser and have have installed YouTube as a web app within a dedicated profile. It works flawlessly. Brave shields filter ads between videos. I have installed the below extensions. - sponsorblock for YouTube: filters adds in the videos - show YouTube comments while watching: moves comments to the right side of the player. - return YouTube dislike: shows number of downvotes - force Picture in Picture Extension: enables pip so you can watch youtube in small window while working in other tools. If you only care about audio you can switch apps and the audio will continue playing. Edit: in case you don’t like brave you can setup Firefox similarly and use an adblocker extension. All other extensions as mentioned above except for the pip extension (it’s built in). In Firefox you don’t use profiles but containers for max privacy. I prefer brave as it’s app icon for the YouTube web app is looks better.
Edit: brave occupies 33mb for the YouTube web app (PWA)