this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2023
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Anyone who's been using privacy-respecting frontends for some time will recognise Piped. A YouTube frontend with no ads, integrated SponsorBlock, return dislikes, and a customisable UI.

Piped also allows you to subscribe to as many channels as you want without ever logging into a Google account. You can export your subs list from YouTube and import them to Piped seamlessly.

If you've never heard of it, give it a glance at https://piped.video. For more instances, check here.

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[–] kavin@feddit.rocks 27 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Hello there, I'm the author of Piped and would love to answer any questions you may have! 👋

[–] ozoned 6 points 1 year ago

Looks great, I'm going to give it a try.

On your github, which I hope you have backed up.somewhere else because Google might come you, it says "no connections to Google's servers.". How are you getting the videos then?

Thank you for contributing to FOSS, and joining us on the Fedi. You're helping free the internet!

[–] frogman 4 points 1 year ago

any plans to integrate DeArrow? 👀

love piped, i dont even change URLs to youtube.com when i send them to friends anymore because everyone loves the sponsorblock and adblock integration. thank you <3

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[–] b9chomps 22 points 1 year ago

I use it for about a year new. There are a few hiccups now and then, but you can just switch instance. That's why I recommend using Libredirect with it. If you have trouble with an instance just ping the instances in Libredirect and chose a new one. Backup your preferences from the old instance and import it to the new. Your settings and subscriptions are available again.

[–] james@lemmy.jamesj999.co.uk 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Inb4 YouTube starts charging for API access… too soon? :(

[–] zxo@sopuli.xyz 20 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Piped (and similar projects like NewPipe, Invidious, and FreeTube) scrape YouTube instead of using an API; so just like Nitter, they won't be affected by a paid API.

[–] romano@lemmy.shtuf.eu 33 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Ironically Nitter stopped working lately, since Twitter started requiring users to be logged in to read anything.

[–] zxo@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 year ago

That is a stupid decision, makes Reddit's the second worst to happen today! Musk just keeps driving Twitter into the ground just like spez is doing to Reddit.

[–] SmallAlmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 year ago

Damn, I didn't even notice that, because twitter sucks

[–] AbelianGrape 3 points 1 year ago

Invidious does use a YouTube API. FreeTube uses Invidious, so probably same story there. I don't know about the others.

I recently had a back and forth with one of invidious's developers. Judge for yourself.

[–] nameless_prole@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

I'm sure they're watching the reddit situation very closely.

[–] SpicyTofuSoup@lemmy.sdf.org 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Is this a similar concept to NewPipe?

[–] zxo@sopuli.xyz 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yep, Piped uses the NewPipeExtractor to load videos, just like NewPipe. However, Piped runs it server side, and NewPipe runs it client side. YouTube likes to rate limit the big instances too, so all you have to do is use a smaller one like il.ax or piped.adminforge.de.

[–] NoTime@lemmy.one 9 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Doesn't this make NewPipe better in that instance? If it's client side you aren't going to be rate limited.

There is also a fork of NewPipe that integrates SponsorBlock (I don't know if Piped has that).

[–] zxo@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago

Piped has SponsorBlock. However, NewPipe is still just better, even if only for Android. I use it more often than Piped.

Should really get aroundto sonating, though.

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[–] variouslegumes@reddthat.com 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

What's the advantage of running this server side?

[–] XpeeN@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That youtube don't know YOU scrape their website. in fact, they don't even know you're watching a video.

[–] zxo@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 year ago (4 children)

However, YouTube rate limits big Piped instances, so it's better to use NewPipe or a small instance.

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[–] iamhazel 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

SmartTube for Google/Android TVs! So amazing. AdBlock and sponsorblock built in.

[–] EarJava@lemmy.fmhy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

Really the only solution to watch YouTube on TV. I sideloaded it to my shield. github

[–] seducingcamel 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

How's the UI? I remember using it over a year ago and it felt really crusty compared to the Chromecast YouTube app

[–] smegger@lemmy.podycust.co.uk 2 points 1 year ago

Been using smart tube for a while now. The interface and stability is getting better with every release.

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[–] fades 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Excellent timing! With the rumblings of YT attacking anti-ad users and me using my new iPad Pro for watching stuff on the go, I’ve just started looking into side-loading.

Looks like I’ll be going with an app that utilizes this fw. Good share!

[–] zxo@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've heard that Yattee is good for Apple devices.

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[–] useful_idiot@lemmy.eatsleepcode.ca 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How does it compare to invidious? Worth switching?

[–] zxo@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago

The two are quite similar services, there are only minor differences. Invidious uses its own API to scrape, while Piped uses the NewPipe extractor serverside. Piped also requires JavaScript to run, while Invidious does not. Overall, it's just up to your choice. Generally I prefer Invidious, then open a vidro in Piped if it won't load in Invidious just to see if it will.

[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Initial player response is not valid. Doesn’t inspire confidence that it is immediately broken.

[–] nihilx7E3 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

eh, i don't think it's fair to discount a youtube frontend for having a bug, especially not a frontend as new as this one. projects at this early a stage always have issues, & youtube frontends have to deal with the added bonus of google randomly rate-limiting & consistently trying to break them. youtube frontends are always going to have issues & need constant updates by nature, there's not much any of them can do about it

[–] zxo@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago

The main instances are also rate limited too which does not help. A smaller instance like il.ax should do the trick.

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[–] JaxiiRuff@pawb.social 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It wasnt always like this. Google is always, moreso lately, constantly changing around the API to break things like Piped from working.

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[–] garrett@infosec.pub 4 points 1 year ago

Having a lot of troubles with viewing content in any of the instances. Unfortunate since things are looking a lil’ bleak on YouTube as a whole.

[–] Drewski@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

There's a great browser addon called Libredirect which redirects Youtube videos to Piped or Invidious. You can quickly jump to another instance if one isn't working. It also supports reddit > teddit or libreddit along with many other frontends.

[–] courts@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I like the ability to get an RSS/Atom feed for my subscriptions, which I just imported from NewPipe. I don't think it'll replace NewPipe for me, but it might come in handy if NewPipe fails to load a video for some reason. Even though the backend is also NewPipe, so it remains to be seen if it makes a difference.

Also great if you only have a browser available on a device and can't / don't want to sideload NewPipe.

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[–] Doll_Tow_Jet-ski@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How is it different from NewPipe?

[–] mitexleo@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It uses NewPipe in the backend. Your requests will be proxied through the Piped server.

[–] zxo@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago

To add on: There are a few things about this difference. Unlike in NewPipe, your IP never reaches Google, easier to make frontends or apps (Most private YouTube apps are an an Invidious/Piped frontend, excluding NewPipe and a few others), only the server's. However, YouTube rate limits large instances, so it's best to use a smaller one.

NewPipe generally provides a smoother experience, but it's largely limited to Android while Piped can be used anywhere.

[–] s0phia 3 points 1 year ago

That's awesome!! I'll definitely try it out later.

[–] Eggyhead@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Completely new to this. I click a video and it says, initial player response not valid. What do I do from there?

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[–] pixel 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

is there any way for me to sign into my youtube account by way of piped so I can get my sub feed and stuff?

[–] b9chomps 7 points 1 year ago

You can export your Youtube subscription into a csv file that can be imported into Piped. If you enable cookies you don't even need to create an account and can still have a personal feed. That's the main reason for me to use it above Invidious

[–] Aurailious 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Do any of these frontends have a "watch later" function? What I really need is the "remove watched" button, since its just a playlist.

[–] div@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

I just create a playlist "watch later" add my videos to it and use it like the watch later feature in YouTube. It does a pretty good job

[–] Ringoman@lemmy.fmhy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

Just downloaded it, thank you!

[–] neo@lemmy.comfysnug.space 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

How do I go about exporting my subs list from YouTube anyway?

Edit: Figured out my problem. I was using my primary google account and not the "Brand Account" aka my linked original youtube account that actually has all of my YouTube stuff on it.

[–] lowleveldata@programming.dev 2 points 1 year ago

Not working on firefox

org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.exceptions.ExtractionException: Initial player response is not valid
	at org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.services.youtube.extractors.YoutubeStreamExtractor.onFetchPage(YoutubeStreamExtractor.java:904)
	at org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.Extractor.fetchPage(Extractor.java:60)
	at org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.stream.StreamInfo.getInfo(StreamInfo.java:78)
	at org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.stream.StreamInfo.getInfo(StreamInfo.java:73)
	at org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.stream.StreamInfo.getInfo(StreamInfo.java:68)
	at me.kavin.piped.server.handlers.StreamHandlers.lambda$streamsResponse$0(StreamHandlers.java:55)
	at java.base/java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:264)
	at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1136)
	at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:635)
	at java.base/java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:833)
[–] Lugado 2 points 1 year ago

My problem with this kind of projects is the comment feature. They usually doesn't let you comment in videos and that's so cool

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