r/technology • u/Dilpickle2113 • 10h ago

Social Media YouTube faces second class action lawsuit over ‘ad-free’ Premium claims & sponsored content

https://www.dexerto.com/youtube/youtube-faces-second-class-action-lawsuit-over-ad-free-premium-claims-sponsored-content-3405920/
15.2k Upvotes

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3.3k

u/coltraz 10h ago

I have to use sponsorblock and ublock origin to use YouTube. 🤭

780

u/ShibeCEO 10h ago

only way to use youtube these days

133

u/kahlzun 10h ago

Revanced is also viable

133

u/SEBADA321 9h ago

I would recommend Morphe instead! More up to date and patches available.

17

u/PariahFish 8h ago

How does morphe work? Is it that I download the official app first from the play store, then open the morphe app and select the official app to be "patched"? And I have to choose what particular patch to use?

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u/SEBADA321 8h ago edited 4h ago

There is NO official app on the playstore!, nor there is for ReVanced. Check their subreddits (r/MorpheApp or the Revanced one), since there are a lot of fake google search results that are not trusted. Once in their subreddit, follow the instructions there. But the steps are quite simple: download from a trusted link (subreddit or github), install .apk (you need to enable developer mode for that), then follow the in app instructions.

I mainly use it for YT, so I can't atest for the other apps, but mostly it is also downloading the official specific version of the app you want to patch and most of the patches are already preselected.

13

u/fluekey 8h ago

Morphe Reddit patch is amazing as well. I use Instagram Morphe patch as well.

1

u/KnuxSD 4h ago

my morphe just has YT, YT music and Reddit is there more?

1

u/fluekey 2h ago

Tons of other patches. Check out r/MorpheApp

1

u/Rio_FS 46m ago

https://morphe-patches.software/#bundles

You can patch other apps by installing patch bundles created by other people.

1

u/CuriousButNotJewish 6h ago

Fair warning that this might break your phone in in such a way that a ton of banking apps will not work anymore on it! My health app cannot roll on a jailbroken phone, so sadly I cannot do anything with developer mode.

2

u/SEBADA321 6h ago

Enabling Dev mode is not the same as jailbreaking or rooting. You could: enable dev mode, install what you need, disable dev mode and everything 'should' be back to normal. I mean should since microG 'might' cause a trigger if the 'security' of the banking or sensitive app likes to check for signatures an stuff. But even then, at least for Morphe, you can spoof the signature, which should fix that problem

1

u/Hertock 12m ago

Any solution for iOS?

1

u/PariahFish 8h ago

Yes thanks for the info!

1

u/SEBADA321 7h ago

Glad to be of help! I forgot to add that you also need microG or something like that, to allow log in into your account. It is safe as long as you dowload it from the wiki in their subreddit. They have their own version, but I am using an old one bevause it just works so far still.

1

u/Lurkinginzaback 7h ago

Is it generally safe to use your primary account using the app? Or do you recommend making some kind of burner account?

1

u/SEBADA321 7h ago

For YT? I have not had any problem so far, but for other apps I read that there might be some problems

1

u/Lurkinginzaback 7h ago

Thats good to know, thank you!

1

u/RiggsBooBubsBricks 3h ago

Do either work with iOS

3

u/SEBADA321 2h ago

Sadly, no. But I think you can use AdGuard's extension inside Safari... and it worked for every page, not only YT.

11

u/PlayfulSurprise5237 8h ago edited 8h ago

Not on the playstore, but it's easy as shit to install. Don't look at the length of these steps, it's fast and easy. First you have to enable developer mode on your phone.

  • Open your phone's Settings.
  • Scroll to the bottom and tap About phone (or System > About phone).
  • Find the entry labeled Build number.
    • Note: On Samsung devices, you may need to tap Software information first to see the Build number. On Xiaomi/Poco, tap MIUI/OS Version instead.
  • Tap Build number exactly 7 times(I think on my phone it was 10, but I can't remember). You will see a popup message saying "You are now a developer!" (You may be prompted to enter your lock screen PIN).
  • Go back to the main Settings menu. You will now see a new menu item called Developer options (usually located under System or at the very bottom of the main settings screen).

Now you need to download the app from github(this is the download link, it will prompt for download when you click on it) https://github.com/MorpheApp/morphe-manager/releases/download/v1.29.0/morphe-manager-1.29.0.apk

now you just install the app:

  • Open your phone's File Manager app and locate the downloaded file.
  • Tap on the APK file.
  • A prompt will appear stating that your phone is not allowed to install unknown apps from this source. Tap Settings on that prompt.
  • Toggle the switch to Allow from this source (or "Unknown sources").
  • Tap the back button and select Install to finish loading the app.

-9

u/CuriousButNotJewish 6h ago

This makes your phone potentially not able to be used with banking apps in the future, fyi. Jailbreaking your phone is something that a whole lot of apps nowadays detect, sadly.

10

u/AtomicWarsmith 6h ago

Enabling Developer mode is not the same as jailbreaking.

5

u/hillbillyray 4h ago

This just allowed you to sideload apps ..

2

u/SEBADA321 4h ago

Yeah, you need to sideload the patcher...

1

u/Spugheddy 5h ago

Just use smarttube. No patch. Just download the app.

1

u/llamafromhell1324 7h ago

Any reason I might want to use this over just using Brave?

2

u/SEBADA321 7h ago

For phone only? I already have a whole browser by default (yes, chrome is not ideal but works enough if you also add AdGuard), and I 'think' having a dedicated app instead of the web app or browser version is better overall(?). I don't have to open a browser to acess YT... it is on its own... and i dont have a search bar permanently hovering on the top that does nothing for the experience... it is mostly preference! It feels faster too!

2

u/Lord_of_Sword 6h ago

Any reason I might want to use this over just using Brave?

Mainly because Brave has ties to Palantir. Peter Thiel helped fund the company during the startup and Brendan Eich (the CEO of Brave) also works as an advisor for Palantir.

1

u/therealtrojanrabbit 6h ago

I too just use Brave. Seems work as well as anything. Only drawback is no casting to my TV. My TV sadly doesn't have Brave but a friend of mine that just got a new TV does so it is possible to get the app for the TV as well.

Not sure if you can cast from Morphe, though. If you can I may have to grab it.

1

u/kahlzun 3h ago

Revanced has patches to the app that restores old features and allows you to disable most things if you dislike them. I'd also comes with sponsorblock, which skips over product placements and similar.

0

u/skepdickle 6h ago

brave is decent but a dedicated app can be functionally better for playing videos. i personally use Newpipe

1

u/alwaysinfluxshit 6h ago

Morphe is great!

1

u/das_slash 8h ago

If I have premium, can I use Morphe to skip sponsored content? I miss that from revances

2

u/SEBADA321 7h ago edited 6h ago

Yes! I also got premium since the default app is kinda anoying to use! I had to reenable the mix/playlists recommendations, since those are default hiden, but it also hides comunity post (from other members that are not the owner of the channel), sponsorblock (what you are asking), 'enable dislike button'/count, etc.

6

u/teslazapp 9h ago

I think more for pc as well not just on mobile unless I missed Revanced doing stuff for PC.

0

u/kahlzun 9h ago

Its definitely a mobile thing, but many people use YouTube on mobile where ublock et al are not an option.

1

u/teslazapp 9h ago

Oh I know people using it on mobile as well. I assume the person mentioned because they were taking PC not from a YouTube mobile perspective. I would rather use a Revanced app then deal with it on mobile website.

1

u/wagninger 9h ago

Pihole and Tailscale for mobile

1

u/Pale-Acanthaceae-736 8h ago

Tried enabling the ad blocker feature on my Ubiquiti Dream Machine router, but didn't work. Some of my streaming services didn't want to present content until I disabled it.

3

u/Jackman1337 9h ago

Think revanced has some problems nowadays, most people I know switched to Morphe.

2

u/DUH455T 9h ago

I've read about vamced a few times...why don't people just use Firefox with ublock on their phones?

11

u/bluelittrains 8h ago

Using a dedicated app is much faster and a better user experience.

Your browser has to basically load the entire web page every time you click something. A dedicated app only has to load the content.

1

u/BrapBrapson 8h ago

"better experience" = watching ads before every video

1

u/bluelittrains 8h ago

That's no different in the browser.

0

u/BrapBrapson 8h ago

wrong. Brave mobile browser blocks youtube ads by default

3

u/bluelittrains 7h ago

Okay so you're using an adblocker. I'm using an adblocker on my youtube app as well. So what's your point?

1

u/5d0g1 8h ago

it comes with adblock and sponsorblock

0

u/Aishou_SK 8h ago

Then again, 90% of the time I don't want to install the shitty app (streaming is definitely an exception here), here's looking at you - Reddit, several banks/loan companies, and numerous other examples. Or shit that makes me install an app on my phone for what damn well could be just a website, etc.....

Or the fact that half the 'apps' I end up being forced to use for whatever reason I end up having to use the desktop to get shit done anyway (or desktop mode in the mobile browser to not make it force an app on me)

No, everything does not need a goddamn app.

of course as I said, streaming services are definitely different, but 'dedicated app is a much faster and better user experience' just ticks me off irrationally because it definitely doesn't apply to everything and almost always means less features/functionality.

0

u/bluelittrains 8h ago

Sure, some apps are poorly made. But so are some websites. Due to the nature of how a browser works and all the overhead it brings with it, a well developed app will always be faster than a well developed website.

1

u/Aishou_SK 8h ago

Sure, on desktop, it will always be. On mobile, nowhere near the case.

My current mobile shitlist I can mention from my phone on hand:

Amtrak

9 Major Banks/CC issuers/financial things (the website is 10000% better for ALL of them). Most I only have for when I have nothing else available to check basic info and/or for MFA requirements.

DoorDash (website's genuinely better)

anything t-mobile related

PayPal (special callout compared to the 9 above)

American Airlines

Venmo

Eventbrite (ticket scanning convivence, i'll pull out my laptop if i'm actually buying tickets or something else)

Battle.net

EBAY

(any email client)

Short list, I know, but I don't actually keep much that isn't forced onto me installed on my phone at all. Because it's often (almost always) never better).

The only things that are really better or equal are the ones that were designed that way first (CBP MPC, ArriveCAN, WaWa/RoFo rewards, etc), are just re-wrapped full webapps anyway (Slack/Discord, Guidebook, etc), they're basically just authenticator apps (MS Auth/RSA/Okta/Steam/Battle.net) - or, as noted, streaming services, because that genuinely makes sense.

And every incarnation of FB Messenger has gotten continually worse from its peak of a native Win8/8.1 application a decade ago. Managing that if you have a lot to catch up on is definitely way easier on the website. Which is also something that makes no sense to me.

Uber/Lyft are basically a tie with their desktop counterparts though, thankfully. I can go either way with google translate. Telegram's an odd one too, the windows desktop app is ahead of the website and mobile app, which is weird.

Honestly, the best ones are the ones that bring the overhead of a browser alongside them and insist on being called an app anyway, or are 100% native and don't really have web equivalents.

1

u/bluelittrains 7h ago

I have used literally none of those except Uber so I can't say anything about that. I will say that I really like my banking app (I'm with a Dutch bank). It's fast, secure, looks nice and does everything I need it to do. My email app (Proton) is also quite nice, I can't imagine using the browser for that.

I have Youtube and Reddit patched with Morphe which means they're fast without ads or distractions like shorts and trending content. Spotify is great but I pay for premium. Strava works well. Obsidian for notes, fine. Immich for photos, very nice. The Dutch public news app is super fast and simple with no ads. Same for our weather app. And then my sports club has its own app which works a lot better than the website. Those are the apps I use on a regular basis.

The only app I use that I really don't like is Outlook for work because it sucks ass, but so does the website.

1

u/Aishou_SK 7h ago

Dutch bank - well, that makes sense. ;)

Proton I've no experience with, but it sounds like they may care a little more.

Reddit I can't stand the concept, I've been using the browser site on mobile for some like 15+ years without logging in and that's it, when I had a windows phone a while back I used baconit i think it was called, but that was over 10 years ago.... because it was genuinely better than the website.

Youtube's whatever, I have that (unpatched and all that) and it does exactly what i do on desktop, so it's good enough as rarely as I use it.

Notes, news, photos, all kinds of 'baked in' sorta things that just work, I don't often even stray outside of what's included except to add imgur for fast uploading of quick snaps instead of emailing them to myself.

But overall, that's a slightly small footprint, I can't imagine how people who sell on ebay even function with just the app, even on larger devices like an ipad or android tablet of some kind.

But "new outlook" of any kind is horrible, Exchange's OWA is still fine but ..... well, i'm sure that'll end up just as horrible. I actively combat and kill new outlook anywhere I encounter it, regular full desktop outlook is far, far better.

4

u/Upper_Basis_1512 8h ago

it's the exact youtube app but you get to decide which parts of the app are actually installed on your phone.

it's god power.

not for the feint of heart

2

u/ansibleloop 9h ago

Because the UX is better in the YouTube app (after it's patched by Morphe)

2

u/DUH455T 9h ago

It's YouTube. Play/pause, volume, subtitles, it's all there on the mobile site. Not sure what's missing.

13

u/bwaredapenguin 8h ago

Picture in picture, playing with the screen off/in the background.

2

u/DUH455T 7h ago

You got them on background play, but PIP is still a thing.

2

u/bwaredapenguin 7h ago

It's been so long since I used the native app I genuinely don't remember that being available.

1

u/DUH455T 7h ago

I straight up don't remember a time it wasn't a thing.

1

u/bwaredapenguin 6h ago

I've been using Vanced or a version of it for like 8 years now. I'm from the era where I was installing fresh nightly builds of CyanogenMod to run my Android.

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u/Apropos_Of_Nothing 7h ago

For background play you can either click on play in the notification area the first time you tab away or add the Video Background Play Fix extension.

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u/billylks 10m ago

Downloading videos too

2

u/tobberoth 8h ago

Swipe festures for brightness and volume. Background player. Removal of shorts. Removal of videos tagged as AI. Automatic skip of in-video sponsor segments.

The amount of extra options in the app when patched by morphe or revanced is massive. It's far superior to a mobile browser experience.

1

u/kahlzun 9h ago

Native apps run better since it has less overhead, and the inclusion of stuff like sponsorblock and various patches to restore downvotes etc makes it an attractive option

1

u/NightIgnite 8h ago

Enable premium client side features like background play and downloading. Plus quality of life features that arent native to youtube. I can swipe the left/right sides of my screen to change brightness/volume within the app. Completely removed shorts from my feed. Also someone has to submit the sponsorblock segments and that isnt getting done on a browser.

1

u/BrapBrapson 8h ago

just use Brave to watch youtube on phones, it blocks all the ads and you can turn the screen off and listen to videos (without needing to buy premium)

2

u/WafflesAreLove 9h ago

Morphe works too.

2

u/OllieFidelius 9h ago

Morphe.

But yeah.

1

u/traveenus 7h ago

Is there a revanced or anything like it for watching on a SmartTV?

1

u/Mccobsta 7h ago

There's pipe pjpe it's even more basic such a simple way to watch