I don’t know if it’s the right place to ask.
I don’t want a Google account. I don’t use yt that much but I still need it.
I even tried yt revanced. None of them works
If you have “throwaway” phone, you could use that too. Make fake accounts and let them gather all they want from those, just keep in mind to maintain the separation.
Personally I have always had multiple accounts and names on internet so even having google account feels like they get only part of me. Though even then its like chain on my neck, as I have to dread them banning me for some crazy or not crazy reason. You are correct in not wanting to have one.
Ain’t google needs phone number to get an account?
Newpipe has a critical bug in its recent version as reported here https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe/issues/11934.
Last time I checked, there is no official acknowledgment from the devs yet.
You can try
tubularor previous version of thenewpipe.i have to clear cache and switch vpn servers for basically every other video on np
I use Fennec (aka: Firefox minus the Google Play shenanigans) + uBlock Origin, over a VPN
Works 99% of the time (gotta keep the uBlock Origin filters up to date)
If you get a “Sign in to prove you’re not a bot”, just keep switching servers until it works. Use paid VPNs, because Free VPN IPs are more likely to be flagged.
PipePipe is on F-Droid
I’ve been having issues with NewPipe as of late. I have to keep changing my VPN server until one works
You could go to your local Library. That’s always an option.
Freetube + socks5 mullvad : works 100% of the time
Newpipe on mullvad, sometimes I have to cycle VPN endpoints if the bot detection gets triggered.
Libretube with HLS experimental on. You need to refresh VPN location constantly if you use one.
Got constant invalid iOS player response lately. Guess this doesn’t work anymore.
Using Freetube via a personal VPS - never had a problem, maybe because the provider is smaller. Newpipe, however, did have trouble - page had to be reloaded several times before the video showed up. Now trying Pipepipe instead and not seen it repeat yet.
Invidious still works very well, however it is an ongoing battle with YouTube. They ban an instance and the instance’s ban evasion routine tries again, or in the case of IP range bans migrates to another provider and the game goes on. Despite this, it is the only way I know of to access YouTube relatively pain free using a public VPN provider. By now YouTube has blocked a lot of public VPN IPs. To me, this advantage makes it worth it.
The best way to keep up with which instances are currently functional is via the Invidious Matrix room, https://matrix.to/#/#invidious:matrix.org. You can also check the instances list https://instances.invidious.io/ but it may get out of date sometimes.
Finally, I’ve found the best way to use Invidious is via FreeTube (Linux) or Clipious (Android).
Grayjay still works and is being actively maintained. They also support other platforms like PeerTube and Odysee, which you can easily enable.
Still get blocked if on a VPN, have to switch servers, often countries. I usually give up and have it download it (by adding to a playlist that I set to download for auto retries). Then watch it when it’s available offline
Grayjay is great and I look forward to some bug fixes in the next updates. Unfortunately, I also get YT blocking errors mostly when using a VPN (Proton). A side note, for some reason I can’t paste links into the search bar, this kind of throws my game off when switching from Freetube or other YT links.
They released an update yesterday. If that doesn’t fix it, please report your issues
Thanks for the heads up. I signed up for Futo Chat on Zulip and realized I didn’t mention the problem was on my desktop client (MacOS). However, through your link, I found the update for Android. I’m happy with it, so cheers for that. For those interested, the Grayjay announcement on the 17th was: “Hey everyone, we’ve been aware of playback issues for YouTube and have been working hard to fix them. This fix is now released on the stable channel (and requires an app update). We are aware that age-restricted, controversial videos, or other videos requiring login may not yet work.” We will work on this next week. The desktop release required for this fix will also be available next week. Here is the changelog for the new mobile version 281:"
Did it work for you? Didn’t work for me but it seems to have worked for most people.
Nope, I’m getting the UMP redirect fail issue here.
Do you use free tier or paid proton VPN? I am evaluating different VPN options and appreciate the data points
Hey, I paid for a Proton Unlimited package for the second year. After hearing that Proton CEO Andy Yen voiced support for the U.S. Republican Party, I wondered about the company’s direction. However, there isn’t clear evidence that a Trump administration would be anti-privacy or worse than the Democrats regarding privacy in the U.S. I chose the company because Proton AG is headquartered in Plan-les-Ouates, Switzerland, where its data centers are also located. Additionally, I selected the EU model when purchasing. They have over 110 servers and seem fairly fast compared to my experience with NordVPN over the years. Sadly, in the YouTube field, most of these IP addresses across its global servers have been flagged, and I’m pretty sure I can’t even post this reply on lemmy.world without pausing my VPN.
However, there isn’t clear evidence that a Trump administration would be anti-privacy
Bruh… Seriously?
It’s because LW is behind cloudflare iirc.
Hasn’t worked for me for several months. Not with a VPN anyway.
I’ve noticed that Google is getting more and more aggressive with VPNs. It won’t let me load anything on VPN without logging in. This applies to third-party tools like yt-dlp too.
This probably depends on your VPN provider. Perhaps I can make a throwaway google account just to get it to stfu? I don’t know how hard it is to make a semi-anonymous Google account nowadays.
I use ProtonVPN* (paid) and using North American servers works most of the time. I also use secure core through Switzerland first befote it goes to the NA servers.
I use Fennec + u Block Origin to watch youtube, works flawlessly 99% of the time.
*Although Proton has a recent controversy with one of its board members, Andy Yen, regarding his opinions on US politics.
Requires a phone nunber, at least most of the time
Depends on how you sign up. If you sign up with Gmail or Google TV they do not, last I checked.
I’m not 100% certain if it’s fully private, but I’ve been using a VPN and LibreWolf + uBlock Origin. I watch what I want to and reset my browsing session when I’m done.
From what I’ve gathered recently, the Mullvad browser left unmodified and combined with a VPN is one of the most private browsers you can use, short of using Tor.
yeah that’s probably easily fingerprintable
One trick is going to ghostarchive.org and sticking the link in there.
Another is using
yt-dlpBoth of these are future-proof because you will end up with the data hoarded off of their server.
Noticed errors in newpipe recently too. Did you try Firefox with ublock? In mobile u can enable background something too.
Yeah I tried it with fennac
