This is just a short and sweet update on my “HOW TO: Break Up With Google” post. For most people the hardest thing to do, when breaking up with Google, is to move away from YouTube.
What most people don’t realize ( including myself until a couple of months ago ) is that you can use RSS with YouTube. Check how to do it here.
One other thing you can do is use FreeTube – a free and open source cross-platform app that allows you to watch YouTube without advertisements and prevents Google tracking from you with their cookies and JavaScript.
The app is still in beta, and there’s some bugs ( like using Tor for API calls does not work and max video resolution is 720p ) but for the most part works great. Also keep in mind that if you have a ton of subscriptions, when you open the app, it will take some time to load all the subscriptions. Also, I THINK, it will bypass geo-restrictions. Not sure though, as I’ve not come across any geo-restricted videos to test it out.
FreeTube Features
- Watch videos without ads
- Use YouTube without Google tracking you using cookies and JavaScript
- Make API calls through the Tor network
- Subscribe to channels without an account
- Local subscriptions, history, and saved videos
- Export & import subscriptions
- Open videos from your browser directly into FreeTube (with extension)
- Mini Player
- Light / dark theme
Learn more and download FreeTube on the project’s github page.
