Louis Rossman/FUTO's YouTube app, GrayJay, now supports Sponsorblock... and shames you if you use it

Seriously this was very surprising. I’ve been experimenting with GrayJay since it was announced and I largely think it’s a pretty sweet app. I know there are concerns over how it isn’t “true open source” but it’s a hell of a lot more open than ReVanced. Plus, I like the general design and philosophy of the app.

I updated the YouTube backend recently and to my surprise and delight they had added support for SponsorBlock. However, when I went to enable it, it warned me “turning this on harms creators” and made me click a box before I could continue.

Bruh, you’re literally an ad-blocking YouTube frontend. What kind of mental gymnastics does it take to be facilitating ad-blocking and then at the same time shame the end-user for using an extension which simply automates seeking ahead in videos. Are you seriously gonna tell me that even without Sponsorblock, if I skip ahead past the sponsored ad read in a video, that I’m “harming the creator”?

verysoft, (edited )

Just use the NewPipe + Sponsorblock fork.

McFarius,

Did not know this fork exists. Thank you for enlightening my day, Internet stranger.

JohnDClay,

I don’t think newpipe works with recommendations or leaving comments does it?

smallaubergine,

correct, newpipe has no account integration be design for privacy

JohnDClay,

I wonder if one could design an extension that would do a rough recommendation algorithm locally. I use recommendations a ton, so I can’t really switch to newpipe.

wolfshadowheart,
@wolfshadowheart@kbin.social avatar

FWIW I've found Piped (LibreTube on Android) has decent recommendations when you are inside a video. Main feed is just standard, but once you go into a video the suggestions are roughly the same in my experience.

db2,

Commenting on YouTube? Gross.

nameisnotimportant,
@nameisnotimportant@lemmy.ml avatar

I do too and I’ve been wondering why we would need anything else 👍

Dasnap, (edited )
@Dasnap@lemmy.world avatar

If I’m not buying the crap that sponsors them anyway then how does it affect the creator if I skip the section? I assume the success of the sponsor is based off referrals but again, I’m not buying their crap or using referral links.

Infiltrated_ad8271,
@Infiltrated_ad8271@kbin.social avatar

Same for me, and it's not even just about sponsors as there are many other categories. How does it help the creators to tell me for the umpteenth time to subscribe or something about a bell, when I don't even have a google account?

Sponsorblock is a wonder, I wouldn't watch certain channels without it anymore.

bionicjoey,

Precisely. Basically every company that markets themselves using YouTube sponsorships is a scam anyway.

bighatchester,

That’s a bit of a blanket statement. The way people talk about ads and sponsorships makes it sound like you want the people making the videos you are watching to fail and stop making videos. Or do you contribute to the channels you watch another way to ensure they can keep making money ?

bionicjoey,

I use Patreon and Nebula yes. But I don’t think creators should feel entitled to people watching the ad section of their videos. And advertisers shouldn’t feel entitled to have their ads be seen.

NuXCOM_90Percent,

Can already summarize the following conversation:

  • “I donate to patreons of creators I like so I refuse to watch ads”
  • “Okay. So you found the Patreon of the random dude who recorded himself swapping out a bathtub spout and made the single most useful video in human history?”
  • “I donate to patreons of creators I like so I refuse to watch ads”
  • “Also, I assume you only have a few in rotation. Does that mean you only watch videos by four or five creators and space them out?”
  • “I donate to patreons of creators I like so I refuse to watch ads”

It is no different than “If the game is worth buying, I’ll buy it” back in the day. It is people who feel the need to ethically justify their piracy making up random and nonsensical conditions, that are often refuted by the creators themselves, as to why they can’t even be bothered to alt tab out of a game to fast forward through learning that hello fresh have DISRUPTED tv dinners.

bionicjoey,

Sponsorblock simply jumps the video ahead automatically. If you’re okay with doing it manually, you should have no objection to a simple labour-saving device in the form of a browser plugin

NuXCOM_90Percent,

People are lazy and labor makes a big difference.

For example. There are some youtube channels with REALLY predatory and messed up sponsorships that I always skip. The videos are interesting enough, but I am not dealing with that. Thus, I’ll watch them on a side monitor while I work but not while I play a video game.

Contrast that with other creators where I don’t mind leaving the sponsor segment running.

And while I have never understood the rationale of it, I know there are a lot of people who will just leave a youtube playlist on while they go to sleep. Which… has potentials for subliminal advertising but also means the creator gets some free metrics saying their viewers don’t skip ads.

What that ALSO means is that channels with better skits or less shitty sponsors get watched, whereas the worse don’t. As opposed to everything getting skipped no matter what.

brothershamus,
@brothershamus@kbin.social avatar

Jesus christ

bighatchester,

I will skip through sponsor spots if they are really long but I also have YouTube premium because I want to support the YouTubers that I watch alot without seeing ads . I’m just always surprised by the amount of people that will put a lot of effort into making sure they don’t see any ads of any kind but will also refuse to pay anything .

NuXCOM_90Percent,

Personally? I am excited for when one of these “alternate youtubes” start charging a fee. And people pay it

Like, fuck reddit for a lot of reasons. But I still find it completely insane that people were paying a third party to not view ads on reddit.

bighatchester,

I bought sync for Reddit a few years ago but as a one time fee and it wasn’t really to get rid of ads but to support the developer. I wouldn’t pay a monthly fee . I have sync for Lemmy now but don’t pay any fees because there was no one time fee option.

Hubi,

Nah, I watch a lot of videos about cars and most sponsors are legitimate businesses and some that I’ve bought from before.

VPNs and apps on the other hand…

bionicjoey, (edited )

Yeah, VPNs, mobile games, subscription services…

But yeah, some smaller and more niche channels might advertise real useful products, but that’s very much in the minority

Edit: FWIW I have bought exactly one product which I learned about from a YouTube sponsorship. It was a set of Sleephones I heard about from an ASMR maker. They’ve made a huge difference for my sleep and the company that makes them is pretty good about selling replacement parts

bighatchester,

I’m a big fan of my ridge wallet that I heard about through various YouTubers. I actually lost mine on a busy road and it got run over by a bunch of cars and when I relocated thanks to my tile tracker that I also heard about from YouTubers it was still perfectly fine other than some scratches. I swear I’m not sponsored lol .

PopShark,

Thing about those modern sleek more compact wallets just make me feel like I couldn’t use them because they wouldn’t fit every use case I have for my wallet. Like I guess if you only have a couple debit/credit cards plus ID and otherwise use like apple or android pay and I guess hardly ever or never use cash. I mean use in a typical everyday transaction, sure they can hold like folded up bills neatly but did everyone forget change exists? In every use of cash id have to stuff coins in some free pocket and a lot of circulating bills aren’t exactly as crisp and foldable as a stock certificate lol

bighatchester,

I have 8 cards in mine and could probably fit another one or two . And have put a couple hundred dollars of 20s in my wallet. For change it mostly just goes in the center part of my car. Plus there is no Penny’s since I’m in Canada. Lonnie’s and quarters all go in my laundry change holder when I get home. So it works perfect for my usage atleast.

Spitfire,
@Spitfire@pawb.social avatar

Exactly, I wouldn’t be buying anything sponsored anyway, and I’d just skip ahead myself if SponsorBlock didn’t exist.

ZeroHora,
@ZeroHora@lemmy.ml avatar

I think it depends on the deal they have made. If YouTubers only get paid when someone actually buys a product, then NordVPN pays cents to each Youtuber

Merwyn,

I may be wrong but from what I’ve heard from some “small” content creator on YouTube the money from the sponsored talks in their video is a much bigger part of their income than money from youtube coming from the YouTube-selected ads that play before/during the video.

Also, this part do not give any money to YouTube and do not use/collect any data on you.

nicetriangle,
@nicetriangle@kbin.social avatar

How would anybody confirm whether the sponsor ads are being watched or not?

crunchpaste,
@crunchpaste@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

I believe YouTube provides analytics on this to the creator which may be shared with a potential sponsor before a deal is made.

nicetriangle,
@nicetriangle@kbin.social avatar

Ah TIL. Thanks for the details.

crunchpaste,
@crunchpaste@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Take it with a grain of salt, as I can’t provide any sources and I’m not a YouTube content creator. I just remember some channels sharing than.

howrar,

Can confirm. I upload YouTube videos and it shows me stats on which parts of the video people watch.

bionicjoey,

The point remains, all Sponsorblock does is skip the video ahead. Something most rational people do anyway even without the extension. And creators to my knowledge don’t get paid based on the number of views their sponsored sections get.

NuXCOM_90Percent,

They do and they don’t.

I am not aware of any creators who get sponsorships paid in impressions. Albeit, I don’t really talk to anyone who goes hard on tiktok or instagram so there is that.

But it is not at all uncommon for a sponsorship deal to include some metrics. They want to know retention rate, how often people skip past your sponsor bits, etc. And youtube DOES record that. Many videos will have a little chart if you mouse over the tracking bar that shows the most rewatched portions.

And if you can demonstrate that people tend to actually watch your sponsored segments? You often can get a MUCH bigger check. Its why a lot of mid-tier creators will do a skit for their sponsored segment. And why the really big ones completely phone it in because they know the vast majority of their watches are people who can’t go to sleep without having Ninja talk about how he can’t be around women who aren’t his wife.

akilou,

How do you turn it on? I’m on Grayjay v 195 but I’m not seeing the option in settings.

narp, (edited )

You have to go first to “sources” and then it’s in the YouTube options

vagrantprodigy,

Shame is an artificial construct that I am choosing not to opt into. Thanks for letting us know that sponsorblock is in, I’m turning it on now.

bionicjoey,

Yeah I agree, I just thought it was funny… Not “haha funny” but a bit jarring

DrinkMonkey,

Shame is a mismatch between ego and ego-ideal, whereas guilt is a mismatch between ego and super-ego. The ego-ideal in shame does depend on social norms. But that is by no means “artificial”.

Rentlar,

Seems to me an overreaction to complain about a single checkbox suggesting that people who make YouTube videos make actual money from sponsorships where ads get them jack shit. They added Sponsorblock but just have a one-time warning, is that really big of a deal? It’s informational, and if you don’t like it, ignore it and move on with your day.

If they were more insistent like a popup every time you used it I could see getting upset about it.

bionicjoey,

It’s not a big deal, just something I thought was odd. I’m not gonna claim checking a box is ruining my life or anything.

Rentlar,

Yeah. I use NewPipe myself just to be able to enjoy videos with my screen off, that Youtube has locked behind a subscription for no good reason.

That said Rossman is someone who sticks to his principles and the FUTO group is an extension of those principles. At heart he’s a New York businessman so he knows that people need money to live, but he also isn’t trying to stop people to do what they like with tech that they supposedly have purchased.

desmosthenes,
@desmosthenes@lemmy.world avatar

damn y’all get all the cool shit on android :(

KnightontheSun,

Piped works on iOS. Invidious perhaps as well?

PopShark,

Piped works mediocre at best and the quality settings and buffer is finicky depending on your settings. It’s not worth the hassle imo because it doesn’t even have Sponsorblock. Sadly on iOS I usually just stick to default YouTube app mostly with no Sponsorblock. But soon I want to try some of the modified youtube apps from Altstore.

On Android TV on my sony bedroom tv I recently switched from the default YouTube app to Smarttube which is GOAT tbh I had no idea what I was missing. I wish I could get that but on iOS yaknow?

KnightontheSun,

It does have SponserBlock. You have to tick the box to enable it. Is it great? No, but it served me well enough whilst traveling so as the only option it works. I won’t use the default app. I don’t really watch too many videos on my phone. I wait to watch on a pc at home where I have better quality and control.

stifle867,

I’m confused about your stance on ReVanced. It’s about as open-source as you can get github.com/revanced/revanced-patches

bionicjoey,

With ReVanced there is a core underlying app being patched which is not OSS. With GrayJay, the source of the whole thing is source-available

stifle867,

I understand that and wouldn’t have commented if you said that. Instead you said that, quote, ReVanced, end quote, is not open source.

kick_out_the_jams, (edited )

My understanding is that it literally can't be used in an open fashion since it critically requires a proprietary closed base.

Some source code is available but the entire thing is not open source.

ayaya,
@ayaya@lemdro.id avatar

I think you guys are just discussing semantics. Revanced as a project is the patches themselves, so Revanced is open source. But a YouTube app patched with the Revanced patches is not.

kick_out_the_jams,

That's a better way to frame it.

The patch is 'about as open source as you can get' but the actual application is far from it.

stifle867,

Exactly. Could have just said YouTube is closed source from the start when ReVanced is 100% open-source.

brothershamus,
@brothershamus@kbin.social avatar

Well I'm glad that's settled then.

bionicjoey,

Well the app it creates on your device is not open source. The patch is, but the actual software being run isn’t.

Also you can just use actual quotation marks my dude, no need to say “quote end quote” like some kind of Dan Carlin impersonator

noodlejetski,

no it’s not. the modifications are open source, but the base client is the same old closed source Youtube app.

MonkCanatella,

Eh, at least they added support for it. Good for them. Still looking at this app with some skepticism but so far seems to be doing what it sets out to do.

Chewy7324,

I know there are concerns over how it isn’t “true open source” but it’s a hell of a lot more open than ReVanced.

For me, terms and definitions are very important. Just like right to repair is often misrepresented to the detriment of consumers, it’s important to only talk about open source if the license actually respects your freedom [1].

Open source has a lot of positive connotations and calling some project open source while only being source available feels like taking advantage of it.

It’s similar to how large corporations talking about being eco friendly with their packaging whilst making the actual devices as hard to repair as possible.

You’re right, the ReVanced project is open source, but the resulting app is not, since it’s modifying the official YouTube app.

[1] opensource.org/osd/

Alimentar,

I’m fairly certain they didn’t want to include it but felt it was the only way to offer the same/better service over revanced.

I’m sure as hell happy about that. I understand the creators need their sponsors but at the same time, I cannot stand ads. Like this I’m keeping his app and frequent it more often.

Skelectus, (edited )
@Skelectus@suppo.fi avatar

I think they said that they technically don’t block ads. They just don’t implement them. If youtube were to somehow pack ads into the video stream, they wouldn’t go around it. Though I’m sure that in such case an adblock extension would pop up very fast.

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