FreeTube

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Anyone tried the FreeTube client?

https://freetubeapp.io/

Available for multi-platforms

Short Synopsis:
Device client to view YouTube videos sans Google tentacles with a privacy goal.
Unable to download videos but apparently on their list of todo’s
Thoughts, experiences?

Disclaimer: no association with developer etc..

https://github.com/FreeTubeApp/FreeTube

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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Cybertooth, firemind

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I have used the Appimage of FreeTube on Linux Mint for about a year.

When it works it works okay. When it doesn’t it is frustrating and has caused my computer to reboot. (That may be due to power issues and if it couldn’t load a video it would try using bluetooth – which I don’t have- and my computer would have an out of memory(?)incident and reboot. Appimages are not supposed to affect the system but this one did.

It uses “invidious instances” to contact YouTube and bypass location or age restrictions. Sometimes the instance it selects won’t work and you get a page long error message. YouTube changes it’s code fairly often and instances that work may fail. So the restrictions are not bypassed.

Searching videos was always chancy. Say I search for “news Ukraine” for the last hour – no results -so I check for today and there are several hits for the last 30 minutes.

Say I check for videos about Linux Mint from today. The program is searching, searching, searching… and comes up with no results. I search for Ubuntu and Linux Mint pops up. It is very beta.

They have added improvements to the look and such but the actual performance went downward it seemed to me. I stopped using it at version 0.17.1 and it is at 0.18.0 now.

I got it so I could casually view videos with out signing in and watch a few foreign vids. I haven’t used it in months and won’t install it on my new computer until it reaches version 1.

Edit: My understanding is that it bypasses SOME of YouTube’s tentacles but you are not anonymous while using it.

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Microfix, Charlie

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FreeTube is an open source private YouTube client

…Windows users may download a portable copy and run it without installation.

At its core, FreeTube is based on Electron, which some dislike. Those who do not mind, get a well-designed YouTube client that comes without any advertisement and better functionality than the original.

FreeTube’s core features include an ad-free experience, no tracking, options to follow channels and publishers without account requirement, and lots of customization options.

Verdict

FreeTube is a desktop client for YouTube that provides better functionality than the original. It is privacy-friendly on top of that. Note that it is still considered beta at this point.

* I use Chrome for online YouTube videos and ‘4K Video Downloader’ app for downloading.

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Yeah, Martin seen this thread and decided to blog about it also.
The fact that FreeTube is electron based gives me the twitches.

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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firemind wrote:

My understanding is that it bypasses SOME of YouTube’s tentacles

Indeed, I installed it a while back on a Linux device, compared to the YouTube website within a browser, I’m impressed, not encountered any playback issues, lag or sound stutters after months of use..
I also opted for the appimage within synaptic.

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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