I run my own invidious instance locally, I really hope G! doesn't manage to shut down the main project. Don't have the link handy, but on Invidious's Github page in the issue tracker the author basically says that the email they got from G! was invalid because the project isn't using the G! API and is instead essentially scraping the website and no terms were explicitly agreed to by them. Don't know if that will hold up legally, but it doesn't seem like the author is kowtowing to G! at this point at least. And since hearing the story then I've gotten 3 software updates if that's any indication about the inertia of the project.

On desktop I recommend FreeTube app which uses Invidious https://freetubeapp.io

Haha. Dito

Never heard of it before till now

I've never heard of it before either, and this is awesome! I've been using NewPipe on my phone for a while and loving it, but also wishing for something like this on my pc. And now, thanks to Reddit for leading me to Lemmy leading me to this... 😁 Like how you found out about it from Youtube trying to take more control, makes me think of the famous like from Princess Leia: "The more you tighten your grip, the more systems will slip through your fingers." Thanks for the post! 🏆

I used to use Invidious on my desktop and NewPipe on my Android phone. Even tried FreeTube for a while. Everything worked great except managing subscriptions was a pain. Each device needed to be updated manually.

Then I discovered Piped and now use this exclusively. It's open-source, blocks ads, has SponsorBlock, and subscriptions. You can use it any browser and use the LibreTube Android client.

All the benefits of FreeTube, Invidious, Newpipe -- with the added benefit of subscription sync across all devices.