Project VORAPIS non-functional

[UCyborg]

I'd post in the old thread, but they're all locked...

Anyway, am I missing anything? Wrong browser, new required workarounds etc.? Or is this it? Stuck with crappy bloated slow YouTube UI because Google...it's been weeks.

[moonbat]

Probably Youtube changed something and Vorapis need to catch up. Damn. I usually watch with Smarttube on my Android TV because I can't live without Sponsorblock and there's no equivalent for PM.

[Mæstro]

I can't live without Sponsorblock and there's no equivalent for PM.

In fact, there is one! The Simple Sponsor Skipper, a user script, targets Pale Moon, including on Invidious instances.

[UCyborg]

Yes, they're always changing something on YouTube, usually for the worse. I just suspect the worst since the VORAPIS hasn't recovered in a while.

[moonbat]

In fact, there is one! The Simple Sponsor Skipper, a user script, targets Pale Moon, including on Invidious instances.

Trouble is I really like Vorapis over the regular bloatfest, and if I have that running it may not play well with other userscripts.So it's either butt ugly bloated interface or live with irritating sponsors
I'm not a fan of watching videos in general, I missed the golden age of Youtube as a result - so the rare time that I watch I do it on my Android TV with Smarttube.

Btw, do you get the Vorapis introduction popup every time you open Youtube (when Vorapis was working)? I keep getting it as though it's initializing for the first time. I've whitelisted the vorapis domain in eMatrix and uBO and am using the extension version rather than the userscript.

[Mæstro]

Btw, do you get the Vorapis introduction popup every time you open Youtube (when Vorapis was working)?

Sorry, I could not tell you. Since 2019, I have never accessed YouTube’s site directly; I only use Invidious. I have always found it strange that no Invidious instances would style themselves more like early YouTube.

I'm not a fan of watching videos in general, I missed the golden age of Youtube as a result - so the rare time that I watch I do it on my Android TV with Smarttube.

I was there for it, but my parents kept a slow internet connexion for years after most sites came to assume a fast one was available, deterring me from ever making YouTube a habit. Once I was in uni, I could also discover easier ways to access substantial, academic literature about subjects I found interesting, so popular overviews on YouTube struck me as shallow. I gave up on television proper by the mid-tens, although since 2023, I have joined family to watch it, and I sometimes tune into NHK broadcasts online on my own.

[UCyborg]

I tend to browse with history and caching disabled, so the question is whether storage used by VORAPIS is supposed to persist or not if closing its tab and later re-opening it in the same window.

Invidious was always weird to me:

• DASH always forces AV1 codec...
• ...too slow in-browser, Pale Moon presumably still uses old AV1 library...or I don't know why else it's so slow compared to Firefox, resolutions are limited without DASH. I know for certain VP9 codec on YouTube is lower quality on resolutions up-to 1080p, AV1 could be the same since it's all about saving their bandwidth.
• If the video is not too long, YouTube keeps it in memory while it's always being re-buffered with Invidious (eg. if you want it to loop in the background).

VORAPIS seemed to be the first alternative that I found reasonable, also for the UI. I considered FreeTube at some point, but...I despise Electron (being Chromium spamming my process list and having ugly eye piercing font rendering)!

[jobbautista9]

too slow in-browser, Pale Moon presumably still uses old AV1 library.

We use the reference libaom library for AV1 which isn't always optimal. I've tried to make the platform support dav1d, and I almost got all of it done at the time (even got nasm supported too). It's just the platform decoder I have no idea how to write for...

Anyway VORAPIS does still work for me logged-in (but not logged-out), and I'm using the jetpack xpi extension instead of the userscript. I often disable DASH so I can play the video (which would often just be music videos) with my VLC Web Plugin. Annoyingly the only available encoding is 360p H.264/AAC, so the few situations I reenable DASH and play it natively in-browser is when I watch gameplay for example. And even then I force-disable AV1 (which can be done within VORAPIS itself) and VP9 (via browser preferences) to force H.264.

[UCyborg]

Oh, that sounds familiar, working logged in, but not logged out. Well I prefer being logged out, though I realize Google already knows everything anyway...but why make it even easier for them?

[UCyborg]

They updated the script and now it works again when not logged-in.

[UCyborg]

You used to need a loader script that fetched the main that provided the front-end, because executing the main script via Greasemonkey would not work correctly, player would fail at some point. Today, you can use the main script directly without apparent bugs.

Now, did browser improve? The script? Is Greasemonkey buggy or not? Guess we'll never know.

I've had the impression for a long time that no one really knows UXP well.

[jobbautista9]

Looks like V3 was having playback issues in Firefox and Pale Moon again. Thankfully it's easy to fix by clearing cache and YouTube cookies...

[Moonchild]

Youtube is having another bout of assaulting any adblocking, downloading and third-party front end efforts.

[Gemmaugr]

Youtube is having another bout of assaulting any adblocking, downloading and third-party front end efforts.

Youtube really is the epitome of googles Enshittification.
Locking it down, getting caught in vague rules, removing down-votes, changing the G/UI for the worse like subscription feed tiles instead of a list, and even pushing stuff people don't want like shorts. And A/B testing. Also, "experiencing interruptions" if you don't have auto-play enabled.

I noticed this new thing yesterday where a vid's time display starts blinking like a microwave caught in a blackout. I have to refresh the tab to get it to play again.

[UCyborg]

Almost nothing plays for me, even in private browsing session. Or if it plays, the only resolution is 360p.

[Night Wing]

Also, "experiencing interruptions" if you don't have auto-play enabled.I noticed this new thing yesterday where a vid's time display starts blinking like a microwave caught in a blackout. I have to refresh the tab to get it to play again.

This starting happening in YouTube about four days ago and refreshing the tab does get it to play. But I am having no problems viewing videos in 2160p60 4K high definition mode.

[Gemmaugr]

Also, "experiencing interruptions" if you don't have auto-play enabled.I noticed this new thing yesterday where a vid's time display starts blinking like a microwave caught in a blackout. I have to refresh the tab to get it to play again.

This starting happening in YouTube about four days ago and refreshing the tab does get it to play. But I am having no problems viewing videos in 2160p60 4K high definition mode.

Yeah, the videos themselves mostly work (except for when they add another first/third party script you have to allow in uBO/eMatrix). It's mostly all the stuff around it that changes for the worse.

[Night Wing]

This starting happening in YouTube about four days ago and refreshing the tab does get it to play. But I am having no problems viewing videos in 2160p60 4K high definition mode.

Yeah, the videos themselves mostly work (except for when they add another first/third party script you have to allow in uBO/eMatrix). It's mostly all the stuff around it that changes for the worse.

I am "guessing" this is happening now because YouTube is trying a new method, since the previous old methods are not working, to "kill off" ad blockers in YouTube. Like I said, just guess on my part.

[Basilisk-Dev]

I figured I'd mention that VORAPIS was working perfectly for me about 5 hours ago. No issues whatsoever with videos not playing or anything like that.

[UCyborg]

Nothing changed for the better here. Doesn't even seem to be browser or user agent related.