Release v0.19.0 Beta

[PrestonN]

General Update

I know it's been a long time since a formal update. I'll try to explain my thoughts regarding this in a later blog post. Despite the silence, there's a wealth of changes in this release and I hope this will make up for the wait.

Local API

Our local API has undergone a massive overhaul. We have switched all local API hooks to use YouTube.js instead of our separate modules for each function. This should hopefully allow us to fix any issues with the local API faster than what we could beforehand. Any relevant module that we have created has been merged into YouTube.js for a more uniformed experience. A massive thank you to @LuanRT for their help and support on YouTube.js.

This is a very large change to how we handle things. If you happen to see anything that seems broken compared to the last release, please consider creating a ticket over on our GitHub so that we can look at it.

Features

• Mobile devices can now automatically enter fullscreen when rotated to landscape. Find the toggle in the player settings. By @MarmadileManteater in Add setting to toggle Enter fullscreen on rotate #2808
• You can now share channel links using the new share button within a channel page by @Alhuin in #1414 share channels #2859
• You can now right click on a video to open it in a new window or copy YouTube / Invidious links via the context menu by @absidue in Fix "Open in new window" context menu action in release builds #2873 and Add context menu entries to copy YouTube and Invidious links #2957
• You can now hide upcoming premieres in the distraction free settings by @miangraham in Add Distraction Free Settings -> Hide Upcoming Premieres #2853
• Added Cmd / Ctrl + H shortcut to go to history by @PikachuEXE in Update app menu to add item for history #2870
• You can now hide the FreeTube logo within the theme settings by @theforbiddenpool in Add option to hide the header FreeTube logo #2893
• You can now jump between video chapters using the Cmd or Ctrl + Left Arrow and Cmd or Ctrl + Right Arrow keyboard shortcuts by @absidue in Add keyboard shortcuts to jump to the next and previous chapters #2912
• Playlists now support proper pagination (Local API only) by @absidue in Implement playlist pagination for the local API #2956
• Settings can now be password protected by @elshimone in Password protect settings #2932
• You can now hide channels from various lists within the app by @petaded in Option to hide videos from certain channels #2849
• You can now scrub through a video via scrolling. Find the toggle within settings. By @ai25 in Option to skip through the video by scrolling #2418
• Added support for DeArrow, a service created by @ajayyy. DeArrow swaps the titles of a video with a more descriptive title. By @elshimone in Add option to display distraction free titles #2987 and by @ChunkyProgrammer in Add DeArrow support for ft-list-video titles #3688
• You can now use AV1 video formats when available. Enable the toggle within player settings. By @absidue in Filter out WebM DASH formats #3105
• Viewing a channel now shows their Community Page by @GilgusMaximus in Channel community page #1568
• Viewing a channel now shows their Live Videos Page by @absidue in Add Live tab to channel pages #3273
• Viewing a channel now shows their Shorts Videos Page by @absidue in Implement the shorts tab on channel pages #3533
• Viewing a channel now shows their Releases and Podcasts Pages by @ChunkyProgrammer in Channels: Add support for release and podcast tab #3778
• You can now have comments automatically load when watching a video. Find the option within settings. By @PikachuEXE in Add setting to auto load comment section #3352
• Added support to view hashtag pages by @ChunkyProgrammer in Local API: Add support for hashtag pages #3483 and IV: add support for hashtag pages #3571
• The video player now supports multi-audio videos (Local API only) by @absidue in local API: Support multiple audio tracks #3563
• The Subscriptions page now has separate tabs to see shorts and live streams by @PrestonN in Add Tabs to subscriptions page for live streams and shorts #3725
• Added basic support for the PotPlayer, MPC-HC, MPC-BE external players by @trostboot in Add basic support for PotPlayer, MPC-HC, MPC-BE #3798
• The search bar can now parse Invidious search URLs by @ChunkyProgrammer in Parse IV search urls #3849

Fixes

• Fixed an issue with emoji's displaying within the profile selector by @absidue in Fix emoji display in the profile selector #2815
• Fixed an issue where chapter markers were slightly offset by their actual times by @absidue in Fix chapter marker placement #2874
• Fixed an issue where cached subscription videos were not cleared when you remove all subscriptions by @absidue in Clear cached subscription videos when removing all subscriptions #2905
• Fixed an issue where the Unsubscribe button would show in a channel page if parental controls were enabled by @elshimone in Hide unsubscribe button on channel list if this is set in parental controls. #2906
• Fixed an issue where copying a URL link would sometimes provide an internal URL by @absidue in Copy in-app links as YouTube links #2951
• Fixed in issue where the import subscriptions link wouldn't open in your default browser by @absidue in Fix docs link in the data settings section #2981
• Fixed an issue where some playlist links from YouTube were not being parsed properly by @petaded in Support extra youtube embed playlist links #2972
• Fixed an issue where Cmd or Ctrl + C wouldn't copy text when viewing a video by @PikachuEXE in Fix Ctrl/Cmd + C unable to copy text when viewing video #3027
• Updated the Mastodon URL to the new account in the About view by @MarmadileManteater in Update mastodon link in About view #3038
• Fixed an issue where searching within channels wouldn't work by @PikachuEXE in Fix searching in channel view broken #3062 and Fix searching (2nd time onward) in channel view broken #3073
• Fixed an issue where clicking on the currently selected trending tab would try to grab information again by @absidue in Don't react when selecting the current trending tab #3070
• Fixed an issue where subtitles would sometimes not display within the video player by @absidue in Fix typo causing the subtitle sorting to error #3100
• Fixed an issue where Shift + Enter wouldn't open the search within a new window by @PikachuEXE in Fix shift enter on top nav search input does not open search in a new window #3113
• Fixed an issue where QT apps using the FreeTube protocol wouldn't work properly by @ChunkyProgrammer in Add QT Url support for freetube protocol #3119
• Fixed some styling issues in the playlist page by @MarmadileManteater in Reduce overflow in playlist view #3123
• Fixed in issue where the channels page wouldn't populate with videos when sorting by popular and using the Invidious API by @camcam1773 in Fix video fetch when using invidious API and sorting by popular. #3126
• Fix an issue where the app would sometimes load on a non-existant second monitor by @kawanakaiku in Make sure window is visible #3008
• Fixed an issue where external video players would sometimes not open within the Subscriptions page by @ArturWagnerBusiness in Fix external player not opening on Subscriptions page #3172
• Fixed an issue where the Trending and Watch pages wouldn't allow certain arrow key events by @absidue in Fix the trending and watch pages swallowing the arrow key events #3170
• Fixed an issue where FreeTube couldn't parse channel URLs if they included tab information by @absidue in Fix channel handle URLs with tabs #3241
• Fixed an issue where Live and Upcoming videos wouldn't show up within playlists by @absidue in Properly show live and upcoming videos in playlists and up next #3250
• Fixed an issue where Premieres wouldn't display properly in the Subscription page by @absidue in Fix premieres on the subscription page #3240 and Fix live premieres being treated as non-live videos #3358
• Fixed an issue where session volume would not apply when opening a video in a new window by @predystopic-dev in Setting loudness to default volume in new videos #3203
• Fixed an issue where FreeTube would permanently prevent the PCs screen saver from applying by @absidue in Fix the screen saver blocker never getting disabled #3286 and by @PikachuEXE in Ensure screen saver blocker removed when window closed #3557
• Fixed an issue with playing videos within playlists while using the Invidious API by @PikachuEXE in Fix error when playing video with playlist with Indivious API and... #3294
• Fixed an issue where the chapter index wouldn't reset when changing videos by @absidue in Reset current chapter index when changing videos #3400
• Fixed an issue where watching a video would use your saved watch progress if progress saving is disabled by @PikachuEXE in Update video list display & watch page to not use stored watch progress when progress saving disabled #3453
• Added better external link parsing for comments within the Local API by @PikachuEXE in Fix video comment external link parsing for local API #3448
• Fixed an issue where the countdown to watch the next video in a playlist would still show up when you're at the end of a playlist and looping is disabled by @PikachuEXE in Update watch page to stop at end of playlist (when loop disabled) without countdown #3362
• Fixed an issue with sorting upcoming subscriptions when using the Invidious API by @ChunkyProgrammer in IV: Fix sorting upcoming subscriptions #3485
• Fixed an issue with fetching more comment replies when using the Invidious API by @ChunkyProgrammer in Fix fetching more IV comment replies #3489
• Fixed an issue where FreeTube wouldn't stay running in the background on MacOS when all windows were closed by @PikachuEXE in Ensure FT stay "running in background" on MacOS after all window closed #3526
• Fixed an issue with fetching more search results when using the Invidious API by @ChunkyProgrammer in IV: Fix search cache issues when fetching more #3486
• Fixed an issue where the user's name wouldn't show up or when a URL is missing from a badge within the live chat by @ChunkyProgrammer in fix live chat error #3558
• Fixed an issue where the cursor would move while navigating through search suggestions by @absidue in Fix cursor moving while navigating search suggestions #3566
• Fixed an issue where the playlist thumbnail would not get proxied when using the Invidious API by @absidue in Fix playlist thumbnail not getting proxied through Invidious #3581
• Fixed an issue where the captions toggle keyboard shortcut wouldn't work for Legacy or Audio formats by @absidue in Fix keyboard shortcut to toggle the captions #3580
• Fixed an issue where live videos within lists wouldn't have a save to playlist button by @PikachuEXE in Fix live videos as list items had no save to playlist button #3598
• Fixed an issue where custom emojis wouldn't display properly when using the Invidious API by @lamemakes in comment url & custom emoji on invidious API #3658
• Fixed an issue where the Hide Channel Subscribers Distraction Free Setting would sometimes not work when using a secondary window by @Rikthepixel in Fix Hide Channel Subscribers setting still displaying subscribers if changed from a secondary window (#3504) #3692
• Fixed an issue where several pages would continuously refresh when holding down certain keyboard shortcuts by @PikachuEXE in Update views to ignore keyboard events caused by user holding keys #3709
• Fixed an issue where links within comments wouldn't be correct when using the Invidious API by @lamemakes in Fixed incorrect invidious comment linking #3711
• Fixed an issue where Hide Channels and Hide Premiere settings wouldn't work properly by @petaded in Fix Hide Channels and Hide Premier settings #3673
• Fixed an issue where the Current Invidious Instance input field would remove characters while typing by @PikachuEXE in Fix Current Invidious Instance input field removes character while typing #3776
• Fixed an issue where the watch page would break if the subscriber count is missing by @absidue in Fix watch page breaking when subscriber count is missing #3794
• Fixed an issue with trying to send playlist information to external players with no index support by @trostboot in Fix playlists for external players with no index support #3797
• Fixed an issue when trying to import subscriptions that have terminated channels by @ChunkyProgrammer in Fix: importing subscriptions with terminated channels #3816
• Fixed an issue with the focus box now showing up when using the tab key within the channel page by @absidue in Fix focus not showing on channel page tabs and in prompts #3850
• Fixed an issue where the search bar wasn't grabbing words from the suggestion list by @PikachuEXE in Update ft-input for top navbar search input to behave more like Youtube one #3793

Changes

• Playlists now show video numbers by @absidue in Add video numbering to playlists #2811
• The subscriber count on the watch page is now translated properly by @absidue in Localise subscriber count on the watch page #2841
• Several more elements in the app can be interacted with via middle click or right click by @absidue in Make more UI elements middle clickable #2911 and Make some more elements right-clickable #2968
• Opening and Copying videos will include playlist information when available by @PikachuEXE in Update copy/open YT video in playlist view to have playlist ID when present #2848
• The "Load More Comments" button will only show up if there are more comments to grab by @absidue in Only show the load more comments button when necessary #2917
• The app menu now has history forward / back buttons by @PikachuEXE in Update app menu to add items for going back/forward in router history #2933
• The text input element has been given some accessibility improvements by @ChunkyProgrammer in Improve accessibility of FreeTube input elements #2709
• The profile selector now supports longer names by @emmayjiang in Display long names in profile select #2964
• The subscribed channels page now better supports longer names by @elshimone in Improve display of long channel names on subscribed channel page #2988
• The Watch page has been given some accessibility improvements by @ChunkyProgrammer in Improve accessibility of Watch View #2986
• The Channel View has been given some accessibility improvementsby @ChunkyProgrammer in Improve accessibility of Channel View #2984
• The app menu now has navigation items for the different side navigation items by @PikachuEXE in Update app menu to add items for side nav items #2965
• Channel handles are now parsed and shown within video descriptions instead of showing a raw URL by @absidue in Parse channel handles in video descriptions #3011
• Video history now remembers relevant playlist information when applicable by @PikachuEXE in Add feature to remember video history with last viewed playlist when enabled #3006
• The share menu in the playlists page has been updated by @absidue in Use share menu on playlist page #3121
• You can now search by Movie type within the search bar by @ChunkyProgrammer in add missing search filters #3141
• Shorter YouTube Shorts videos should now display storyboars by @absidue in Support storyboards on very short shorts #3128
• Manually scrubbing to sponsor spots in a video when Sponsorblock is turned out will now allow you to watch that sponsor by @lodwhet in Allows sponsor segments to be watched even if Auto Skip is enabled #3116
• All share buttons now use the secondary colour theme by @absidue in Use secondary colour theme for all share buttons #3169
• Grabbing subscriptions via RSS now display relevant time instead of absolute by @PikachuEXE in Update subscriptions view to display video publish time in relative form even fetched via RSS #3216
• Exported files now use your local time instead of UTC in the file name by @PikachuEXE in Update export data default filename to use today's date in local timezone instead of UTC #3236
• A users member icon now shows up in the comments when using the Invidious API by @ChunkyProgrammer in Show member icon when using invidious api #3293
• The Most Popular Tab in the side menu will now be hidden if the Invidious API is not selected and if backend fallback is disabled by @absidue in Hide Most Popular menu entry if the selected backend is not Invidious and backend fallback is disabled #3339
• Improved default quality and quality selection logic by @absidue in Fix DASH default quality and quality selection #3278
• A message will be shown when the Live Chat is unavailable by @absidue in Show message when the live chat is unavailable #3327
• You can now import YouTube Video History via the JSON export by @arlm in Import from YouTube history using JSON export #2958
• The frame by frame keyboard shortcut now supports live videos and 50fps videos by @absidue in Add 50fps and live support to frame by frame keyboard shortcuts #3420
• Comments now show channel tags instead of the channel URL by @PikachuEXE in Fix "mention" in comments was rendered as link with channel URL #3351
• The playlist widget within the watch page will now auto scroll to the current video by @PikachuEXE in Update watch view playlist component to auto scroll to current video #3399
• The chapters widget within the watch page will now auto scroll to the current chapter by @PikachuEXE in Update watch page chapter component to scroll to current chapter on expand #3610
• The distraction free settings are now sorted by subsections by @absidue in Add subsections to the distraction free settings #3591
• Playlists now use the provided playlist thumbnail instead of picking one ourselves (Local API Only) by @jadenet in Use playlist thumbnail provided by YT #3710
• Playlists now show the view count as well as the published date by @absidue in Extract published date and views for playlists with the local API #3767
• Subscriptions will now show the video duration when RSS is enabled if the information is available in your watch history by @absidue in Use video durations from the watch history for RSS #3839
• The Most Popular page will now show an error message if the instance you're using does not support it by @PikachuEXE in Show error message in most popular page when instance does not support it #3841
• Added Improved Accessibility to the Profile Selector by @ChunkyProgrammer in Improve Accessibility of Profiles #3863
• Added semantic roles to several elements within the app to make the site more accessible by @ChunkyProgrammer in Add semantic roles to make the site more accessible #3887
• Subscriptions are now cached on a per channel basis instead of a per profile basis by @PikachuEXE in Update subscription view to be able to load videos from video cache per channel #3668
• Secondary windows are now updated quicker when watch history changes by @PikachuEXE in Update subscription view to render video as watched ASAP #3353

Known Issues

• Proxying videos via Invidious is not working at the moment. See [Bug]: Invidious video proxing IP blocks #3892 and [Bug] Can't load the video on this Invidious instance. YouTube is currently trying to block Invidious instances. iv-org/invidious#4045 for more information.

Dropping Support for Older Windows Builds

A while back, Electron, which FreeTube is based on, dropped support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1. Because of this, we are forced to do so as well. This release is the last release that will be supporting those operating systems and future versions of FreeTube will not work on those systems either. If you are still using any of these operating systems still, it is highly encouraged that you switch to a different operating system if at all possible.

Looking for Translators!

We are actively looking for new translators! If you happen to know multiple languages and would like to see them added into FreeTube, we would love to have your contributions. If you know a language that FreeTube already supports, you can also contribute by making corrections or by adding missing translations. Regardless of where you stand, feel free to check out our Weblate page to see what can be included. If enough translations have been added, let us know and we'll enable it to be used within FreeTube. Thank you very much to everyone who has translated for us in the past and we look forward to anyone's future contributions.

New Contributors

• @Alhuin made their first contribution in #1414 share channels #2859
• @miangraham made their first contribution in Add Distraction Free Settings -> Hide Upcoming Premieres #2853
• @theforbiddenpool made their first contribution in Add option to hide the header FreeTube logo #2893
• @gnuhead-chieb made their first contribution in Changed to a more appropriate country name #2895
• @elshimone made their first contribution in Hide unsubscribe button on channel list if this is set in parental controls. #2906
• @emmayjiang made their first contribution in Display long names in profile select #2964
• @ai25 made their first contribution in Option to skip through the video by scrolling #2418
• @camcam1773 made their first contribution in Fix video fetch when using invidious API and sorting by popular. #3126
• @lodwhet made their first contribution in Allows sponsor segments to be watched even if Auto Skip is enabled #3116
• @kawanakaiku made their first contribution in Make sure window is visible #3008
• @ArturWagnerBusiness made their first contribution in Fix external player not opening on Subscriptions page #3172
• @predystopic-dev made their first contribution in Setting loudness to default volume in new videos #3203
• @arlm made their first contribution in Import from YouTube history using JSON export #2958
• @yarons made their first contribution in Update Channel age restricted key #3237
• @lamemakes made their first contribution in comment url & custom emoji on invidious API #3658
• @Rikthepixel made their first contribution in Fix Hide Channel Subscribers setting still displaying subscribers if changed from a secondary window (#3504) #3692
• @jadenet made their first contribution in Use playlist thumbnail provided by YT #3710
• @trostboot made their first contribution in Update external-player-map.json: Add basic support for external SMPlayer #3771
• @socherbyc made their first contribution in Add Nix to Unofficial Downloads #3804
• @capecrusader-121 made their first contribution in Update Snap Source Host Location #3844

Full Changelog: v0.18.0-beta...v0.19.0-beta

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This discussion was created from the release Release v0.19.0 Beta.

[S7venLights]

Wooo! so happy FreeTube is back! and working on wayland session xwayland :) Congrats

[S7venLights]

Oh I spoke too soon, the freetube app launches fine but video doesn't playback. Graphical glitches...

[absidue]

Try disabling variable refresh rate on your system, apparently electron doesn't play well with it on wayland: #3664 (comment)

[absidue]

Alternatively if you have the setting enabled to proxy videos through Invidious, disable it as Invidious instances are currently getting IP blocked by YouTube but only for the video and audio streaming, everything else still works fine. (mentioned in the known issues in the release notes)

[ghost]

I am on a Raspberry Pi 4. RPI OS (32 bit). Freetube was always "slow" playing videos, you could see the frames etc. However, i am on the latest nightly right now and i have to say that there is a "huge improvement". Whatever you guys did just worked, please do not change it :) Videos are so smooth now.

PS: I am using "legacy formats" and 1080p. However, most videos play in 720p even when there is a 1080p video available in youtube. This is not new, it has always been the case. I just wanted to say. Can we do anything about this?

[absidue]

@sudo-splinter-cell The legacy formats are only available in 360p and 720p (720p legacy isn't available on all videos). If you want 1080p, you need to switch to the DASH formats, although they might run worse on a Raspberry Pi. The DASH formats are separate audio and video files, which get combined at play time, so they require more bandwidth and processing power than the legacy formats, which come with both audio and video in a single file.

[ghost]

After updating to the latest nightly, the smoothness is gone once again. I am starting to think that it was just my imagination that the videos were smoother. Maybe they never were.

[absidue]

@sudo-splinter-cell I'm sure they were but YouTube hates 3rd party clients and downloaders with a passion, so they keep making intentional changes to break stuff. There is already an open issue for it.

[ghost]

The videos are still smoothly playing in Chromium (which is specially tweaked for use with RPI). I wish there was a way to use Freetube inside a Chromium tab. I am pretty sure Freetube, as a seperate app, rocks on any other platform, but on a RPI, the juice is not enough.