Greyjay and SmartTubeNext

[Mercutio]

I'm vaguely aware that Youtube is really cracking down on ad blocking so I thought I'd mention some things.

I've been using SmartTubeNext since forever. It's an AndroidTV client that'll run on a Shield STB with ad blocking and sponsor blocking that works so well that my partner actually ditched Youtube Premium in favor of just using this client instead. It definitely works right now.

Louis Rossman is a right to repair advocate who used to operate a PC/mobile repair business in Manhattan. He announced GrayJay.app very recently. GreyJay is a plugin framework that also supports ad and sponsor blocking and allows users to view videos across whatever sites for which they can find a plugin. Youtube and Twitch are there by default and I'm sure there are plugins for adult sites and the usual collection of fascist social media alternatives (e.g. rumble, banned.video, truth social) by now. Rossman's argument, which I fully agree with, is that sending somebody $1 directly is worth more than actual years worth of ad revenue. GreyJay also supports direct dowlnoading of videos.

There's also ReVanced for people who just want to watch Youtube on a mobile device without ads.

All of the above have to be sideloaded, since Ad blocking is against Youtube's TOS. Vanced and SmartTube at least have their code posted somewhere so others can examine and contribute to it.

I have no idea what Apple people do about this stuff.

 

[sedrosken]

They do nothing. I think you can sideload applications through iTunes if you turn on some obscure developer mode, but it's a moot point since, you know, nothing open really gets made for iOS.

 

[LunarMist]

Most Apple users are not hackers. Hopefully they can catch that guy.

 

[Will Rickards]

apple people use the brave browser to watch youtube or any of the other safari plugins.
I have been getting those pop-ups on my desktop computer (brave browser or chrome with ublock)
We'll see if youtube takes the measures further than just a popup that can be blocked itself

 

[sedrosken]

Considering grabbing a cheap Android TV box to check out SmartTubeNext, thanks for the idea Merc. If it works out I'll ditch YT Premium.

 

[Mercutio]

Try to find a used Shield if you can, or a MiTV or the relatively new ONN AndroidTV box. A lot of other boxes are too suspect to be considered.

 

[sedrosken]

The new ONN one is actually what I was recommended by a friend of mine, that's likely what I'm going for.

 

[sedrosken]

Got it in and after a bizarre moment where I figured out only the armeabi v7 build would work -- side note, does this mean this device is only ARM32? -- I have it going. Very nice... I canceled my Nebula/CuriosityStream sub because I didn't watch it enough, I cancelled YT Premium, now it just remains to be seen after my sub ends how my adblocker does on my PC and how I'll be getting around the nag dialog. Now the only streaming service I pay for is Spotify, and since I'm paying for a family plan and have a few friends and family on it, I won't be cancelling that anytime soon. Especially seeing how I do actually use it and all.

 

[Mercutio]

I have Spotify because one of my customers pays for his employees to have it on a group plan.
Although I do like how responsive the app is compared to Amazon Music, which is something I do pay to keep.