this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2024
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As for what these were, they are modified versions of the official YouTube app. What has been taken down is the full modified app files (.ipa) ready to install on an iPhone, not the source code to the tweaks that are in the repos.
These modifications do things like replicate the paid YouTube Premium features, from the uYou features list for example:
You can see why Google would want to have them taken down. They aren't even a re-implementation with their own code/UI like NewPipe.
So why are people in this thread glad google is doing this?
I thought Lemmy was all pirates and anti monopolies, dont we all have adblock? And background playback used to be default. It was explicitly removed to exploit.
I am not trying to argue but can someone explain why there rooting for the power addicted mega company?
The only comment I see being glad about it is a joke about the style of beer also called an IPA.
I saw the woooosh and it still woooshed right over me. Have never encountered it.
I think there's a difference between a third-party app/frontend and a modded app like these. One is at least trying to provide their own value, and stuff like NewPipe for example can support multiple services in the same UI, a feature I wish was better supported in streaming as I dislike trying to navigate all the individual apps. Modifying a service's app to remove the ads while still consuming their bandwidth and not putting in the effort to make your own app feels worse for me for some reason. At least pirates generally tend to use their own bandwidth and servers to distribute things instead of leeching directly off the original.
Hope that helps explain it for at least one person.
It's not just removing the ads, though. NewPipe also, of course, consumes YouTube's bandwidth.
I'm not saying NewPipe doesn't use their bandwidth, just that taking YouTube's app/UI code too just feels worse to me for some reason. It's less about the logic of it and more about the feeling.
The equivalents for Android, precompiled ReVanced APKs, are commonly used to spread malware. Following the instructions to patch the app yourself isn't hard. Google taking down precompiled modded versions of YouTube but leaving patches and the the tools anybody can use to apply them is a neutral thing at worst.
Also I don't see anyone in this thread glad that Google did this, aside from the first half of the joke / fakeout / pun post about IPA beer.