Customize YouTube to work exactly the way you want it to.

I’m using this all the time myself. There is no login to YouTube required and it supports adding subscriptions and doing everything important you can do on YouTube.

And the best part is no ads whatsoever.

  • 𝕽𝖚𝖆𝖎𝖉𝖍𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍@midwest.socialEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    I agree; between it and Tubular, YouTube is usable again.

    That said, someone pointed out that higher resolutions are not viewable on FreeTube. I hadn’t noticed this until they mentioned it, and now I notice it constantly. I don’t know why, but it’s demonstratable: find a 4k video on Tubular, and open the same video on FreeTube, and only lower resolution versions are available.

  • Moe@forum.moe.onlEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    For some reason like recommendation algorithm, I still use youtube premium.

        • null@slrpnk.netEnglish
          0·
          2 months ago

          If only someone would write an article about it with those details in it.

          Oh well.

      • dan@upvote.auEnglish
        0·
        2 months ago

        If you use premium, the creators still get paid by YouTube for your views. If you use an ad blocker, they don’t get any money from your views.

        When you see an ad on YouTube, the creator gets 55% of the revenue and YouTube gets the remaining 45%.

        • EngineerGaming@feddit.nlEnglish
          0·
          2 months ago

          If I want to support the creator, I would rather donate directly or subscribe to the person’s Patreon. YT Premium just gives no extra features for Youtube itself so could not justify paying.

          • NecroParagon@lemm.eeEnglish
            0·
            2 months ago

            For some reason I doubt that’s a common practice with people hellbent on not seeing ads and not paying for the service.

            Color me surprised if I’m wrong about that.

            I use youtube music everyday as well as downloading videos on my phone to play without wifi. So maybe I do use some premium features, which may make me biased.

  • doodledup@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    Am I the only one that hates third-party clients for Desktop? They all have terrible UI and UX. Firefox + UBlock + Youtube is the way to go. For the phone it’s NewPipe or Grayjay.

    • xthexder@l.sw0.comEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      Personally I still use the Firefox + uBlock + SponsorBlock + YouTube combo on my phone too. Maybe if I watched more YouTube on my phone it’d be worth figuring out an app with a better mobile UI, but I like that it’s a consistent experience anywhere I watch from.

    • daq@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      I use the same combo on my phone without any issues or ads. Why use a client on the phone?

    • Psythik@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      Don’t forget about Enhancer for YouTube, SponsorBlock, and DeArrow! They’re all a must-have for desktop YT.

    • PenisDuckCuck9001@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      If you use ublock origin and watch a lot, they’ll eventually put your ip address on a list where you have to log in to watch anything. Newpipe seems to be able to circumvent this but yt-dlp can’t. I haven’t tried freetube but maybe freetube can circumvent that.

    • Kanda@reddthat.comEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      I use Firefox with ublock on desktop, works like a charm. My favourite on android is YouTube revanced

    • leadore@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      Firefox + UBlock + Youtube is the way to go.

      Unless you don’t like Google tracking everything you watch on youtube, that is.

      • person420@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
        0·
        2 months ago

        Let’s be real, no matter how you’re watching YouTube, if you’re accessing the video directly and not cached through a third party server, Google is still tracking you.

    • fross@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      Revanced app had the superior UI/UX.

      Not because if taste, but because it is the YouTube UI that then allows you to add and remove stuff from the UI, getting away from all the user-hostile stuff. If you want to.

      • dan@upvote.auEnglish
        0·
        2 months ago

        ReVanced isn’t a third-party client though. It’s patches applied to the official client.

    • EngineerGaming@feddit.nlEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      I used to think it is redundant too, but now see it as a quality-of-life difference. Because I can track my subscriptions and watch history, as well as have playlists. That is a massive improvement over folders of bookmarks.

  • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    I’d argue that Brave is the best way. The adblock is seamless and requires no add-ons, and you retain the full functionality of the site.

  • ContrarianTrail@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    The recommendation algorithm is the reason I use YouTube. Well over half of the videos I’m watching are from channels I’m not even subscribed to. Ads can be blocked as always.

    • dan@upvote.auEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      The recommendation algorithm is the reason I use YouTube.

      This is an unpopular opinion on Lemmy (since it means Google has to track you) but I agree. I’ve discovered so many great channels, both small and large, through YouTube recommendations.

  • ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    No Android version of it yet, eh? Damn.

    ETA: I previously tried Vanced, but it didn’t work correctly.