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YouTube on TV becomes insufferable with new unskippable 30-second ads (www.androidauthority.com)
submitted 3 days ago by schizoidman@lemmy.zip to c/android@lemdro.id
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[-] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 39 points 3 days ago

and then they wonder why the general public works so hard to get around ads. I had no problem when it was a short 5ish second ad at the beginning. Servers and video hosting are expensive, I get it.

Now? Now it's pure unadulterated greed. We passed the "keep the lights on" moment a long time ago, this is just a cash cow for them.

[-] RamenJunkie@midwest.social 8 points 2 days ago

Also, the ads on Youtube are just so so so fucking terrible. Like ally streaming services have ads, and they are the same old TV style ads, little 20-30 second bits of nonsense trying to be memorable about a profuct.

Meanwhile, Youtube is trying to push these weird scammy sales pitches prrtending to be ads, often like 10+ minutes long unless you skip them when the timer hits. Its terrible.

[-] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 2 points 2 days ago

God I hate that, if you lost the remote and can't click skip yet. Don't worry! They're going to suddenly give you multiple minutes of slop ads while you search for it! Up to 10 minutes I've seen!

[-] Midnitte@beehaw.org 15 points 3 days ago

The Quest for More Money™ always means that deal you made for paying for no ads is only valid until that graph needs to go up even higher.

Theyre darth Vader, but there is no praying they dont alter the deal any further - it will be altered, its just a matter of when.

[-] JakenVeina@midwest.social 11 points 3 days ago

laughs in SmartTube

[-] Stormcrow@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 days ago

Ya there's a multitude of options across various platforms, if someone is still using vanilla YouTube it's their own fault.

[-] afromustache@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

So I was using Revanced until a few weeks ago when it stopped working. Do you have any idea if I just need to update it or if I need to replace it?

Honestly I installed it a long time ago and I don't even remember how to update it if that's the issue.

[-] hovercat 2 points 2 days ago

Yeah, generally it just needs an update

[-] smiletolerantly@awful.systems 2 points 3 days ago

Yrs, you need to update.

[-] baner@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 days ago

For android tv just sideload smarttube.

[-] frebib@social.nerdhouse.io 2 points 22 hours ago

*install

[-] baner@lemmy.zip 1 points 7 hours ago

That is true, just as easy as enter a downloader key and your are done.

[-] isVeryLoud@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 days ago

Can you use Morphe on Android TV?

[-] baner@lemmy.zip 1 points 7 hours ago

I really don't know.

[-] smeg@feddit.uk 19 points 3 days ago

Unskippable? The fire stick I bought for £20 begs to differ.

(Or just run in a browser, but this is for a TV solution)

[-] paraphrand@lemmy.world 0 points 3 days ago

Do you think TOS should be enforceable?

[-] smeg@feddit.uk 11 points 3 days ago

I don't have a general opinion, but given that youtube used to be an entirely free service that people put videos on with no expectation of being paid, and then google bought it, made it an effective monopoly, and have slowly turned it into the monetisation monster it is today, I don't think anyone owes them anything.

Also you have the right to control what content appears on your device. You are under no obligation to watch an advert just because a megacorp says so. By putting something on the internet (without a login or pay wall) they are making it freely available for anyone to download. That's how the internet works (for now!)

[-] sorghum@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 days ago

No, if you need to so far as to have a complicated ToS, then it should be a proper contract complete with signatures on actual paper. Same for any amendments with the option to stay on the original agreement at the time of sale.

[-] paraphrand@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I agree that it should be more like a proper contract and that people should understand it. It’s absurd that we have this structure where it’s implied you read even a single word of a TOS.

People should be attacking things like this. Not just boasting on social media about clients that hack YouTube.

[-] smeg@feddit.uk 3 points 2 days ago

If I had the power to mount a legal challenge against a megacorp, I would. Unfortunately all I have the power to do is share workarounds.

[-] ozoned@piefed.social 14 points 3 days ago

Can I ask any content creators to consider Peertube first? Youtube can be set up to pull your videos from Peertube via RSS. That way you can use Youtube as a platform where folks can find and watch you, but you can also keep your content and build your community on YOUR own platform?

[-] the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 13 points 3 days ago

Does peertube pay content creators? If not, good luck convincing any of them. A lot are doing this as their job.

[-] ThorrJo@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 3 days ago

It also needs to be less of a hot UX mess to increase uptake.

To be fair, it's better than it used to be. But still not good.

[-] ozoned@piefed.social 2 points 3 days ago

NOPE. Because ANYONE can run their own Peertube, build their own communities, have your communities help fund you (as they're already doing now, see pretty much ALL of them asking for people to support them via patreon), put what you want on your Peertube, and then have the safe for YT stuff get pulled to Youtube without doing much work other than setting up the link.

So you can upload to Peertube and have Youtube pull it. Why not invest in your own platform and community?

It's not for everyone. That's fine. But Google doesn't care about you, why not care about yourself and your comunity? You can run a Peertube for like $10-$20/month.

I'm bullish on Fediverse though. I could be wrong.

[-] the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 days ago

I understand the advantages of a federated system for the users. But if we're asking full time content producers to give up their sole income and move to a platform they can't monetize, that's going to be a really tough sell.

[-] Paranoidfactoid@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Ads don't generate much revenue for content creators. Sponsorships, merchandise, and donations via Patreon are where the income flows. All that could work with Peertube too.

[-] ozoned@piefed.social 2 points 2 days ago

It doesn't HAVE to be everyone. There are tons of under served communities.

We will never go toe to toe with Google. Someday a company might be able to with federated servers.

More likely interoperability laws could force Youtube to open.

But so many folks don't need or want to go get big.

Education, religions, private businesses.

Everyone is SO FOCUSED on like Mr beast or some other big youtuber. No, they won't switch. But what about your local library?

[-] the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago

Everyone is SO FOCUSED on like Mr beast or some other big youtuber.

It's the medium sized people who are the problem. Mr beast has product endorsements and a show on Amazon. He could live comfortably without youtube. But people like davie504, Cody's lab, tasting history, all those mid sized channels who do this for a living and are the whole reason I go to YouTube in the first place simply can't afford to migrate somewhere they won't get paid.

[-] ozoned@piefed.social 3 points 2 days ago

I wouldn't expect people to destroy their livelihood for this. We can have both. Also YouTube started with no money. Lots of people want to share their hobbies. And more and more are turning away from big tech. This one happen over night. But how does the flood start? One drop at a time.

[-] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 days ago

Peertube doesn't scale

[-] ozoned@piefed.social 0 points 2 days ago

It might not scale vertically, but it scales horizontally.

[-] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 days ago

Not really as video content uses a significant amount of hardware resources. It also is really janky and official app sucks.

[-] Squirrelsdrivemenuts@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

For lg tv users, see this old reddit post for how to get adfree youtube working on your tv:

Ad-free YouTube webOS app

Some days ago I've found an easy peasy method to sideload a modified ad-free YouTube IPK file to all LG OLED TVs from year 2020 on (so from line CX/GX on), but I got feedback here that with C9 TVs it works too.

You need a computer with either Windows or macOS (I believe an iPad might do the job too) connected in the same network.

First we have to create a free LG webOS developer account at https://webostv.developer.lge.com/login%C2%A0(you can change language if it's not yours), but if you already have a normal LG account just login with it so to enable also the developer account.

Now as a one time process go to your TV and from the Content Store download the app Developer Mode (made by LG itself).

Launch it, put in your dev login details and enable Dev Mode Status.

You will be asked to reboot so do it.

At next reboot enter again that app, enable also Key Server and note down IP address and passphrase both displayed on the left side.

Uninstall the official YouTube app from the TV (you won't be able to run the modified app without doing this).

Go to your computer and head to https://github.com/webosbrew/dev-manager-desktop/releases%C2%A0to download and install the latest release of Device Manager for webOS.

Follow the instructions at GitHub to setup a session to connect to your TV (basically give it a name, enter both the IP and the passphrase I told you to note down before and you are done) and connect to the TV.

If everything went well you should be connected so while having selected Apps in the left panel be sure to select also Available on top.

Look for Homebrew Channel in the list and click Install.

Go again to your TV, launch Homebrew Channel and there you will be able from now on to install or update YouTube AdFree and several other apps like ie. Hyperion for webOS.

[-] AmbitiousProcess@piefed.social 12 points 3 days ago

Of course they would. They just showed that people by far watch YouTube more than any other individual streaming service, and that they make more in ad revenue than most other streaming services.

Other streaming services have long, annoying, unskippable ads too. If YouTube has a lot of marketshare, and knows a lot of people aren't gonna get the content from, say, their favorite YouTuber, on something like Disney+, they can add all the unskippable ads they want as long as it's close enough to the other streaming services to make people not decide to watch different content entirely.

[-] cristian64@reddthat.com 14 points 3 days ago

NewPipe, Tubular, FreeTube, Grayjay, ...

I'll never watch ads; that's an unbreakable rule. If at some point third-party apps can no longer serve video, then I won't watch it (and I'll be finally liberated from their monopoly).

[-] Jumi@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

They can make the ads 2 hours for all I care. Haven't seen one in years

[-] AndrewZabar@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

I only ever use YouTube in a browser. I haven’t seen an ad since … oh I don’t know, since as long as I can remember. At least fifteen years.

[-] Teknikal@anarchist.nexus 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

One of the very first things I installed on my Fire cube was SmartTube the YouTube ads were so ridiculous already I found it unwatchable.

I wish it had a real rival but realistically nobody's in a position to pay content creators really except them.

[-] scott@lem.free.as 1 points 3 days ago

Nebula?

[-] JakenVeina@midwest.social 2 points 3 days ago

Nebula's cool, but it's not a potential competitor to YouTube, and as far as I know, is has no intention to be. It's far more niche.

[-] Ilandar@lemmy.today 1 points 3 days ago

Found a Chromecast Ultra in an op shop for $5, cast to it with Grayjay, no ads.

this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2026
127 points (100.0% liked)

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