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SmartTube — an Open-Source Alternative to the Official YouTube App on Android TV (Security Update Included) (thelemmy.club)
submitted 8 months ago by to c/opensource@programming.dev
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SmartTube is a free and open-source YouTube client for Android TV and TV boxes. It removes ads, supports SponsorBlock, works without Google Services, and is designed for large screens and remote controls.

Note: the developer recently disclosed a build environment compromise and has since rotated keys, rebuilt the environment, and added additional verification steps. Users should update to the latest version and verify sources. GitHub: https://github.com/yuliskov/SmartTube

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[–] 8 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (9 children)

I wish they made something for Linux. I just used something called "VacuumTube" so I can use it on my steam deck, but literally just today I'm locked out of using it now. It says some error about "the video file is encrypted and can't be played, try logging out" and now it doesn't work on my main YT account. Ugh ...

Edit and a foreboding warning from my other comment:

It turns out my account was a part of some A/B testing "experiment" that makes ALL YouTube videos encrypted, so third party apps don't work. It wasn't VaccumTubes fault. The only way I could get around it was by switching accounts. It makes me worried that YouTube will go through with this "experiment" and screw over many other programs like the suggested FreeTube in the near future. They already use this encryption on the TV and Movies you can "watch free with ads" on YouTube. I guess YT wants to use it for normal videos too. Yikes.

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  • [–] 3 points 8 months ago (6 children)

    I don't have a deck, so maybe this is a dumb question, but why doesn't Firefox/zen/etc... With ublock origin work? I have used that for a decade on my desktop with no problems

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  • [–] 3 points 8 months ago* (2 children)

    Oh no that works too. That's what I am using now and was using beforehand, but VaccumTube was nice because it had more controller friendly UI/Controls for the SteamDeck. Using a controller as a mouse cursor kinda sucks. Plus you could dock your steamdeck and cast from your phone. It was nice.

    Youtube artificially slows down the loading of videos on browsers like Firefox and especially for Ublock Origin users. I even get a little message saying "Experiencing issues? Find out why" and loading anything on the site takes longer. I even tested this theory by putting it in a fake virtual credit card and getting a free YT Premium trial. Magically the website is worked just fine on Firefox and the message no longer appeared... I refuse to pay Google though.

    It turns out my account was a part of some A/B testing "experiment" that makes ALL YouTube videos encrypted, so third party apps don't work. It wasn't VaccumTubes fault. The only way I could get around it was by switching accounts. It makes me worried that YouTube will go through with this "experiment" and screw over many other programs like the suggested FreeTube in the near future. They already use this encryption on the TV and Movies you can "watch free with ads" on YouTube. I guess YT wants to use it for normal videos too. Yikes.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    just want to add, that even if they encrypt the video, ultimately your pc has to decrypt it and fhere are tools that allow you to do that already... it will allways be a cat and mouse game

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago

    Yeah that's true, I definitely don't think it would be the end of blocking ads on YT or anything crazy. Tbf I was just making the assumption that it would be pretty hard to decrypt the video streams if YT could just keep changing the decryption key every so often. Had no idea there were workarounds tho, thanks for the info at least!

    I shouldn't really be using YT with an account anyways, it's terrible for privacy/security to be using Google products in general. I'm gradually trying to break out of bad habits one service at a time. I just need to copy over all my playlists so I can start my little migration to FreeTube or something better.

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  • [–] 1 point 8 months ago (2 children)

    It does and its what I've been using. But its the Desktop Site and I assume they want to (as I do) use a controller or remote and a TV optimized interface.

    Just looked up VacuumTube, that they mentioned, and it seems to fit the bill perfectly (for me) and I'll check it out later

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  • [–] 1 point 8 months ago (1 child)

    Yup that's why I liked it. I of course use Firefox with all the extensions too on the steamdeck as the other person mentioned, but it's just not as nice using a controller to browse sites as easily. You should check it out, you can even cast to it like a TV. VaccumTube works fine, see my edit. Just pray your account isn't a part of that experiment that encrypts all the video streams. Seems YT is trying to get really strict with adblockers.

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