I use NewPipe on my android phone and SmartTube (previously called SmartTubeNext) on my android tv.
Both are super simple to install and use and neither suffer from the extreme lag that federated frontends like Piped, Invidious and LibreTube often do…
I use revance on my phone just because I also used Vanced before it was taken down, works like a charm as well, with background play, Sponsorblock and everything
I used Vanced and tried ReVanced after that. The app patches would fail even though I made sure that all settings and other conditions were exactly as the setup and troubleshooting guides recommended and eventually I just gave up trying.
With NewPipe and SmartTube, all of the things the OP and you mentioned just work out of the box and changing features and other settings is as easy as in for example Firefox…
Personally how the app looks isn't much of a priority unless it's so bad that it hurts usability and maybe 7/10 times I tried to play a video in Libretube it would either hang for at least a minute or fail to play at all.
That's just not an acceptable tradeoff for looking slightly better than NextPipe that's near-flawless on my phone and SmartTube that's near-flawless on my tv, neither of which is bad-looking IMO 🤷
that's completely acceptable. i like when apps integrate with my Monet color theming and I've never had issues loading video after i turned off the Piped proxy, basically just turning it into NewPipe with a different look. In my experience, don't turn that on unless you have a specific reason to. It leads to video loading issues just like you found.
Some things I like about LibreTube:
The PiP functionally works better than in Newpipe
I can see the likes and dislikes of comments and expand the thread to see more comments
Swipe gestures to enter and exit fullscreen just like on the normal YT app
I can view a content creators content by Livestream, Short, normal video etc. for some reason shorts just don't show up in Newpipe
SponsorBlock integrated. I am aware there is Newpipe x SponsorBlock
If NewPipe has a way to add the above functionality, I'll gladly try it again!
I use NewPipe on my android phone and SmartTube (previously called SmartTubeNext) on my android tv.
Both are super simple to install and use and neither suffer from the extreme lag that federated frontends like Piped, Invidious and LibreTube often do…
I use revance on my phone just because I also used Vanced before it was taken down, works like a charm as well, with background play, Sponsorblock and everything
Edit: update URL
This site that you linked is sketchy. Revanced isn't supposed to give pre-made apk files. That's how they get away from takedowns
Edit- this is the real link. https://revanced.app
Never download premade apks
Thanks for noticing, you are ofc right, I got the wrong link somehow. I updated the link in my original post
revanced.app allows you to download their apk, am I missing something?
I used Vanced and tried ReVanced after that. The app patches would fail even though I made sure that all settings and other conditions were exactly as the setup and troubleshooting guides recommended and eventually I just gave up trying.
With NewPipe and SmartTube, all of the things the OP and you mentioned just work out of the box and changing features and other settings is as easy as in for example Firefox…
Try downloading the APK (in the recommended version) from apkmirror. Patching the installed app also never worked for me
Thanks for the suggestion but I'm good with my current setup heh. I'll probably give it a try if NewPipe or SmartTube become crap for some reason 🤷
also Libretube is a better looking app + more true to the normal youtube app imo. plus when you disable the Piped proxy it's always reliable
Personally how the app looks isn't much of a priority unless it's so bad that it hurts usability and maybe 7/10 times I tried to play a video in Libretube it would either hang for at least a minute or fail to play at all.
That's just not an acceptable tradeoff for looking slightly better than NextPipe that's near-flawless on my phone and SmartTube that's near-flawless on my tv, neither of which is bad-looking IMO 🤷
that's completely acceptable. i like when apps integrate with my Monet color theming and I've never had issues loading video after i turned off the Piped proxy, basically just turning it into NewPipe with a different look. In my experience, don't turn that on unless you have a specific reason to. It leads to video loading issues just like you found.
Some things I like about LibreTube:
If NewPipe has a way to add the above functionality, I'll gladly try it again!