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is there a serious, no bullshit alternative for YouTube?

i've grown increasingly, increasingly tired of youtube lately. the exhausting shorts advertised everywhere, overwhelming thumbnails, sensory overload and just generally a really piss poor site. Is there anywhere someone like me can turn to?

51 comments
  • not necessarily a different service but newpipe x sponsorblock fork might solve your issue with youtube, you could also try youtube revanced (please patch the app yourself) but be aware it still has trackers of google

    or there is an extension called enhancer for youtube that can remove elements of the site which you don't like

  • If you use Android/AndroidTV, you can install SmartTubeNext. Gets rid of ads, you can disable Shorts from appearing altogether, SponsorBlock, etc.

  • Nothing really comes to my mind.

    Even Google is losing serious money on YouTube, and pretty much they're operating it to stop anyone else to come up with any alternative.

    PeerTube is somewhat promising though.

  • unfortunately all the content is on YouTube. so your best bet is probably to use mods/ custom styling to make it better (remove thumbnails, clean up layout, etc) rather than use a different platform imo.

    • There is the real problem. there are plenty of places hosting a few videos. However most of the content is on YouTube, so like it or not you need to go there for a lot of interesting things. If you make content please post it elsewhere (either only or as well, your choice) so that those trying something else at least have something to look at.

      • YouTube currently makes sense of centralized hub because we haven’t found a way to compress video files in a way that makes sense for individual entities to get into storage. You need next-level resources to run a site like that.

        All of Wikipedia can fit on about 25 gigs. Reddit, probably half of that at best.

        YouTube’s server farms must have incalculable space, how many thousands of terabytes are being updated each day? It’s biggest competitors like Vimeo are a fraction of the size.

        With where technology is, the alternative for YouTube wouldn’t be a different website. It would have to be mods that bypass ads and customize the experience.

  • On mobile devices have a look on newpipe and libretube, you'll find them over f-droid or as APK directly. It's been months since I've watched ads. Don't forget to donate, it's very easy, even if it's only one buck, they're fighting for a good cause.

  • So this isn’t exactly what you asked for but DuckDuckGo now has its own browser that has baked in it a YouTube player with no bullshit no ads no surrounding videos no “playing next” nonsense, etc. I’ve only used it like once I think so far (I don’t spent much time on YouTube) but I would already recommend it. And it’s available for Mac and PC, not positive about Linux yet.

  • Would be nice. We have decentralised replacements for Twitter and Reddit now we just need one for YouTube that’s beyond the reach of the corporate assholes. Imagine being able to swear within the first 30 seconds of a video and not get buried where it will never be seen.

51 comments