Some Firefox users noticed playback issues on YouTube for several months. These affected high resolution videos only, from 1080p and up. To make matters worse, no clear pattern could be identified.

Some videos played fine, others would stop abruptly when they ran out of buffer.

  • Delusional@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    11 days ago

    My videos play fine but my side bar is completely gone. No recommended videos, no similar videos, no playlist. Works fine on my other PC.

  • JPAKx4@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    12 days ago

    Reminder for everyone to use a user-agent spoofing extension to make their Firefox appear to be chrome/another browser to Google

    • Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      12 days ago

      Any you recommend? I tried this during during the first round of YouTube fuckiness on Firefox, and it didn’t seem to make a difference.

      I’m also probably the least techy person on Lemmy, so chances are high that I fucked something up.

    • noodlejetski@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      11 days ago

      sadly, skewing stats like that gives Google more reason not to support Firefox in the long run.

    • oce 🐆@jlai.lu
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      12 days ago

      It seems Netflix is able to detect that spoofing, and sends this error when trying to play videos, “Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again later.”. I had to disable my add-ons one by one to identify that it was User Agent Switcher causing it.

      • mrvictory1@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        edit-2
        11 days ago

        The DRM module tells Netflix you are on Firefox. For Netflix I would use Chrome on Wine tbh, it now supports 1080p w/o extensions. Or maybe Chromium w/ ChromeOS’ Widevine module + CrOS user agent.

      • Sestren@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        12 days ago

        Simple solution is to not pay Netflix and just pirate their content. They go out of their way to make the experience worse for paying customers on a regular basis. Sonarr+Jellyfin on an old computer with no video card and you’ve got a better Netflix where your content doesn’t just magically disappear or fail to play on some devices.

        • brbposting@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          edit-2
          11 days ago

          This ends with $500/mo Netflix subscriptions. An employee comes to your house and holds a laptop up in front of your couch while looking for hidden cameras camming the show.

          Bathroom breaks are allowed, but they’ll pause the show if it’s during commercials.

        • SeekPie@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          edit-2
          11 days ago

          I’ve been really happy with Stremio + Real-Debrid. Yes, it costs money, yes it’s worth it (less than 3€/month).

          • Azzu@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            11 days ago

            Any piracy costing money is also really really likely to be shut down relatively soon, making you need to change your setup.

  • FuryMaker@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    10 days ago

    If it doesn’t load quickly or properly, I just don’t watch it, which ultimately hurts Google.

    • Blackmist@feddit.uk
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      10 days ago

      It is.

      “This problem is triggered by bad muxed VP9 bytestream served by Youtube, so it’s not a regression on our side, this issue can also be reproduced on old versions Firefox”.

    • grue@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      11 days ago

      How can I use those while keeping my watch history automatically sync’d between devices?

      • CaptDust@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        11 days ago

        Can’t speak for invidious, but grayjay’s youtube plugin has a “Provide Youtube Activity” option in it’s settings to keep history synced.

    • Adanisi@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      11 days ago

      NewPipe on Android.

      Fuck GrayJay, their marketing lies, and their nasty license.

      • parpol@programming.dev
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        11 days ago

        What lies? And what’s wrong with the license? It is to prevent other companies from taking their source code to make applications that aren’t free.

        • Adanisi@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          edit-2
          11 days ago

          Advertised as “open source”, violates several key parts of the open source definition. AKA false advertising. It’s really a “look but don’t touch” thing.

          And you do realise ANY copyleft license (GPL, etc) prevents the creation of nonfree applications using that code? Making the app proprietary (yes, GrayJay counts as proprietary) is completely unnecessary.

          I know Rossmann brought up NewPipe fakes on the Play Store as justification, but NewPipe is licensed under the GPL. These fakes were already illegal as per the terms of the GPL. His special restrictive license is no better than the GPL for preventing that. So all it really does is prevent legitimate uses of the code.

          • teawrecks@sopuli.xyz
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            10 days ago

            If someone posts their source code publicly, it’s open source. It’s unreasonable to ask them to review and maintain every PR sent their way. If they want to work on it by themselves, that’s fine. If you want to fork it and make changes yourself, you can. Literally the only qualification for something to be open source is that the source is open.

            It’s also unreasonable to be upset if they tell you you’re not allowed to take their work and re-sell it for your own profit. That would be like saying that artists are in the wrong for being upset that all those AI companies used their work to train their bots without asking. “Why would they prevent the creation of nonfree applications that use their work?!” I assume that’s not your position, right?

            But as you said, NewPipe is also copyleft, and it seems like you don’t have a problem with that. So I don’t really understand what your issue is with Grayjay/FUTO. It’s reasonable to be concerned about where their funding comes from, but you haven’t mentioned that. You say they have “marketing lies”, but haven’t pointed to any.

            It’s perfectly fine for there to be multiple open source solutions to the same problem, and you’re allowed to have a favorite, but that doesn’t warrant dragging the others’ names through the mud for no reason.

            • Adanisi@lemmy.zip
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              edit-2
              10 days ago

              If someone posts their source code publicly, it’s open source.

              Uh, no. That’s called “source-available”. Terms have meanings. And from the day the words “open source” started being used, this definition is what defined them: https://opensource.org/osd

              You can’t just redefine an established term because it’s inconvenient to your argument.

              It’s unreasonable to ask them to review and maintain every PR

              Good thing being free/open source doesn’t require that, then? It basically just requires the users be free to make their own modifications freely and distribute them freely (and of course to use the program freely). No requirement for public development involvement at all, really. It’s standard practice but by no means necessary.

              If you want to fork it and make changes for yourself, you can

              They can terminate your license for any reason or no reason (stated in the license) making your fork in violation of copyright law :).

              In other words, they can take down your fork if they feel like it. Making the ability to fork useless.

              literally the only qualification for something to be open source …

              Again, terms have established meanings. See above.

              It’s also unreasonable to be upset if they tell you you’re not allowed to take their work and re-sell it for your own profit.

              I don’t see how this paragraph relates to my point at all. Is it about the NewPipe paid clones? Because they were illegal anyways (copyleft violation), no egregious license needed.

              But as you said, NewPipe is also copyleft, and it seems like you don’t have a problem with that. So I don’t really understand what your issue is with Grayjay/FUTO.

              What do you mean “also copyleft”? Are you implying the GrayJay license is copyleft? Because it absolutely isn’t. Again, established term, definition: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/copyleft.en.html

              You say they have “marketing lies”, but haven’t pointed to any.

              I was referring to Rossmann proudly proclaiming that GrayJay is open source in the announcement (?). The immediate aftermath was a gain in goodwill in the free software/open source communities (you can see this on Reddit threads in those communities upon initial announcement), until people dug into the license and found that its actually a proprietary license.

              And finally, here’s some particularly nasty parts of the license, which funilly enough you don’t ever see in free/open source licenses (because they’re horribly restrictive terms):

              “If you issue proceedings in any jurisdiction against the provider because you consider the provider has infringed copyright or any patent right in respect of the code (including any joinder or counterclaim), your license to the code is automatically terminated.”

              “We may suspend, terminate or vary the terms of this license and any access to the code at any time, without notice, for any reason or no reason, in respect of any licensee, group of licensees or all licensees including as may be applicable any sub-licensees.”

              • teawrecks@sopuli.xyz
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                0
                ·
                10 days ago

                You can’t just redefine an established term because it’s inconvenient to your argument.

                Agreed, which is why you can’t expect to enforce the definition you like on everyone. The only thing about “open source” that we agree on is that the “source” is “open”.

                I’m realizing you’re working with outdated information. Take a look at the license again, it’s been updated.

                • Adanisi@lemmy.zip
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  0
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  9 days ago

                  you can’t expect to enforce the definition you like on everyone

                  It is literally the definition which has been used since the term’s conception when the open source movement split off from the software freedom movement. It is a well established term with a well established meaning. Just because you don’t want to use that meaning doesn’t mean it isn’t correct and most widely recognised. Its not that I like the definition, it’s that it is the primary definition and always has been.

                  Taking the words “open” and “source” separately and interpreting them as you like and combining them is just changing well established meanings to suit yourself, when the whole term “open source” is already well defined.

                  it’s been updated

                  Okay the new one does seem a bit less egregious to be fair but still doesn’t fit the open source definition due to the restrictions on how you’re allowed to use it and redistribute it.

  • Furbag@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    11 days ago

    I have issues with YouTube playback specifically on my work laptop. At home it’s fine. It just started one day where videos sometimes fail to auto play and requires multiple refreshes. Even once they get going they often stall out and the progress bar goes all the way back to the beginning so I’ve gotten in the habit of taking notes of the time before I hit refresh and hope it comes back before I completely lose all interest.

    I’d use Piped instead, but it has literally never once worked for me. Videos never load.

  • orhtej2@eviltoast.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    11 days ago

    I solved a lot of performance issues I had with yt playback by disabling Ambient Mode (it’s hidden under cog menu in the player). No clue why, but it was causing massve CPU usage.

        • TheOakTree@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          11 days ago

          I’m not sure why, but ambient mode also introduces a lot of color banding for me. I find it odd because it doesn’t occur in similar dark-gradient scenes while gaming, just YouTube.

          • tibi@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            11 days ago

            My guess is that it’s supposed to look good if you have HDR enabled (which gives you 10 bits per color channel, although even with HDR, the desktop UI still renders in 8 bits per channel).

            But still, it looks terrible for most people, and is a complete waste of resources. Because of the horrible banding, I initially thought something was wrong with my monitor. I don’t understand why they added this feature.

  • SlopppyEngineer@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    12 days ago

    I resorted to having Chrome for work things, Opera for Youtube and Firefox for the good stuff. Divide and conquer, I guess.

  • michael_palmer@lemmy.sdf.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    12 days ago

    I use Librewolf with Ublock and sponsorblock. Sometimes youtube video stops loading or keeps seeking 5-10 seconds forward. However, reloading the page helps. I don’t have such problems when watching Youtube with mpv.

  • Matriks404@lemmy.world
    cake
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    11 days ago

    I have had the same issue for at least a month now. I use YouTube Premium, the fuck am I paying for?

    • psud@aussie.zone
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      9 days ago

      I also pay for YouTube, and I keep chrome around for watching it, and for the Google apps

    • SGG@lemmy.world
      cake
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      11 days ago

      For your experience to only be degraded a little.

      For an slightly better but still degraded experience they want you on Google Chrome. But remember please use 360p or lower so their poor servers don’t have to work so hard, they even help you do this by default on mobile!

      • Matriks404@lemmy.world
        cake
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        11 days ago

        I already have an uBlock dude, it’s just I like to support content creators on YouTube by having Premium.

          • Matriks404@lemmy.world
            cake
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            10 days ago

            That’s a lot of effort, given how many people I am subscribed to. And I wouldn’t say that it’ “peanuts”, after all they redistribute 55% of YouTube Premium earnings, that’s a lot more than what other similar subscriptions give.

            • Brickardo@feddit.nl
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              10 days ago

              Would you support that kind of business model if you were at the other end, knowing full well you could be earning more? Then again, this is an age-old question…

  • wick@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    edit-2
    9 days ago

    Affected users might have blamed Firefox for the issue. Some may even have switched to a Chromium-based browser, as these worked without any issue.

    I’ve been having issues with YouTube on Firefox for ages, not these issues, different ones. I haven’t bothered to test if it’s only Firefox that has the problem because I’m not using Firefox for a seamless experience, I’m using it because why the fuck would I use anything else on Linux? I won’t put google or ms into a Linux environment, even if I don’t really care about privacy or whatever, it just feels like mixing oil and water.

    Might use another browser like brave or whatever foss solutions are out there, but I’d be surprised if anything like that is better than Firefox.

  • pbsds@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    10 days ago

    The youtube ui is so slow I don’t use it, even back when I was using chrome. Thanks invidious!