v0.25.2 Beta

Summary

This hotfix release fixes the Reloading player according to SABR request errors.

A special thanks to both @LuanRT, the maintainer of BgUtils, and @absidue for their invaluable contributions in creating this fix. If you'd like to support their continued development, consider making a donation to show your appreciation.

• https://github.com/sponsors/LuanRT
• https://ko-fi.com/luanrt
• https://github.com/sponsors/absidue

Note

Changes in this release may increase the likelihood of triggering YouTube’s bot-protection mechanisms, including CAPTCHA challenges.

Fixes

• Bump bgutils-js from 3.2.0 to 4.0.2 by @absidue and @dependabot in #9490
• Retrieve potoken challenge data and yt config from the YouTube website HTML by @absidue in #9607
• Set screen width instead of time zone by @katemarkson in #9627

v0.25.1 Beta

Summary

This hotfix release fixes the FreeTube is damaged and can't be opened. You should move it to the trash error and an issue causing the Windows ARM64 installer to install all files except FreeTube.exe.

A massive thanks to @absidue for providing the fix regarding these issues. If you'd like to support their continued development, consider making a donation to show your appreciation.

• https://github.com/sponsors/absidue

Fixes

• Explicitly configure ad-hoc codesigning after electron-builder changes by @absidue in #9444
• Update electron-builder to fix Windows installers by @absidue in #9460

v0.25.0 Beta

Summary

This release brings a number of new features along with plenty of bug fixes.

Behind the scenes, we're continuing to focus on improving SABR's stability and reliability. Reverse engineering YouTube's custom protocol is a complex and time-consuming process, but it's an investment that will pay off with a more robust experience in future releases.

Important

In v0.26.0, support for macOS 12 will be dropped, and ARMv7l builds will no longer be provided as a result of upgrading to Electron v44.0.0.

Features

• Support drag and drop reordering of videos in local playlists with the custom sort order by @PikachuEXE in #8681
• Support copying video screenshots to the clipboard instead of saving to the file system by @Shadorc in #9042
• Show chapter titles while hovering over the seekbar and add a chapters menu inside the player by @absidue in #9134
• Add a parental control setting to disable channel links from videos by @ozrendev in #8502
• Add a play all videos button on channel pages using YouTube's automatically generated playlists by @r3dArch in #9340
• Add import/export settings buttons in the Data settings by @Shadorc in #9123
• Implement always on default viewing mode by @PikachuEXE in #9341

Fixes

• Remove leftover string from blog removal by @MarmadileManteater in #8962
• Apply the hide watched filter before applying the per-channel video limit by @aditya0155 in #8973
• Fix the expand side bar by default setting causing layout issues on mobile devices by @AndreJesusBrito in #8389
• Fix the playlist import object cloning error by @absidue in #8993
• Fix the spacing in the window title on the playlist page by @absidue in #8994
• Hide the username and password fields for SOCKS proxies, as Electron/Chromium doesn't support authentication for them by @Gabi-Zar in #9038
• Fix opening playlists in external players not working when ignore default args is enabled by @absidue in #8995
• Fix not being able to select and copy stats in the player by @absidue in #9071
• Fix the expand side bar by default setting appearing always disabled by @Shadorc in #9153
• Fix some broken translations by @absidue in #9143
• Fix layout issues with the channel names in the hide videos from channels setting by @PikachuEXE in #9135
• Fix manually marked as watch videos not being imported by the watch history import by @Shadorc in #9201
• Close search and history suggestions when clicking outside the search bar by @Shadorc in #9226
• Fix tooltips not disappearing in the player by @Shadorc in #9119
• Fix the spacing on the channel home tab when videos are watched by @PikachuEXE in #9293
• Fix cmd+L focus on search bar also move video forward by @PikachuEXE in #9255
• Fix: Private video - TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'view_count') by @Shadorc in #9254
• Fix: Live chat error overflow by @Shadorc in #9296
• Fix premierDate parsing in subscription by @PikachuEXE in #9309
• Fix LibRedirect links in README by @reese in #9323
• Fix: publishedText is missing but the video isn't live or upcoming by @Shadorc in #9321
• Fix: Default quality setting not being applied by @Shadorc in #9312
• Fix: Watch time progress bar inconsistency by @Shadorc in #9267
• Fix keyboard shortcuts arent't working during "SABR backoff" by @ozrendev in #9315
• Fix: import history from YouTube adding trailing space to title by @Shadorc in #9204
• Fix: Hide 'Minimize to system tray' setting on Wayland by @Shadorc in #9208
• Fix parsing view counts in shorts-only playlists by @absidue in #9333
• Fix online playlist parsing & revert workaround with youtubei.js update by @PikachuEXE in #9325
• Fix publish time parsing by @PikachuEXE in #9310
• Fix lazy rendering on channel home pages by @absidue in #9336
• Fix: Local Playlist doesn't show upcoming premieres if 'hide upcoming premieres' is enabled by @Shadorc in #9320
• Handle compact published dates e.g. 1w ago in LockupViews by @absidue in #9374
• Fix: Screenshot in 'Save to Folder' mode isn't working by @Shadorc in #9420

Changes

• [Enhancement] Use the same opacity as YT for the player popups by @caetano-dev in #8912
• Update electron-builder config so alpine can drop their patch by @radmorecameron in #8915
• Update README with additional information about RedirectTube by @stankiewiczmichal in #8999
• Update regions by @PikachuEXE in #9125
• Fix: Remove add/remove channel buttons from profile view if unsubscribe setting is toggled by @Shadorc in #9230
• Add more details and emphasis to the bug report template by @absidue in #9091
• fix(watch): show persistent error for unavailable and removed videos by @aditya0155 in #8991
• Replace Matrix icon on About page by @efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc in #9359
• Build static runtime AppImages with electron-builder by @absidue in #9339
• Migrate to the vue-i18n composition API by @absidue in #9375
• Migrate the FtListVideo component to the composition API by @absidue in #9413
• Use batched fetching instead of forcing RSS with sub count > N by @PikachuEXE in #9379

New Contributors

• @AndreJesusBrito made their first contribution in #8389
• @Gabi-Zar made their first contribution in #9038
• @Shadorc made their first contribution in #9153
• @reese made their first contribution in #9323
• @r3dArch made their first contribution in #9340

Full Changelog: v0.24.1-beta...v0.25.0-beta

v0.24.1 Beta

Summary

This hotfix release fixes content fetching on both Channel and Subscription pages.

A massive thanks to @PikachuEXE for providing the fix regarding these errors. If you'd like to support their continued development, consider making a donation to show your appreciation.

• https://github.com/sponsors/PikachuEXE

Fixes

• Fix Subscriptions and Channel pages not fetching content from Videos/Live tabs by @PikachuEXE in #9227
• Fix channel home data parsing by @PikachuEXE in #9164

v0.24.0 Beta

Summary

This release of FreeTube represents an incredible amount of hard work and persistence from the project and its contributors. It brings major improvements across playback, performance, and platform support, with the most significant changes detailed in the FreeTube, YouTube, and Electron sections below.

We’d like to extend a special thank you to @LuanRT, maintainer of YouTube.js and @absidue, for repeatedly helping us resolve that various issues that have impacted playback over time. Your expertise has been invaluable in keeping FreeTube functional through YouTube’s ongoing changes.

A special thank you as well to @PikachuEXE and @absidue for their work on implementing SABR support, a challenging but essential step in adapting FreeTube to YouTube’s evolving streaming methods.

We also want to give a big thank you to the Shaka Player team (@avelad, @joeyparrish, @matvp91, @tykus160, @TAhub, @mariocynicys) for their responsiveness and collaboration. They’ve been quick to fix bugs we’ve reported and their willingness to implement requested functionality have been invaluable to FreeTube.

Lastly, we would like to thank all the translators that make FreeTube more accessible to all of our users!

FreeTube

• Implemented SABR playback support via the local API, restoring audio track selection in the player. Watch pages now load faster, but may show timers for pre-roll ads and SABR backoff. The displayed timer values are provided by YouTube and we have no control over them. If playback fails, it will automatically retry or reload. For more details on SABR, see #7119 (comment).
• Updated the player to a newer version of Shaka Player with a modernization of the UI. The interface is now cleaner and closely aligned with YouTube’s look and feel.
• Removed the Restart window keyboard shortcut. It is known to be unstable and frequently causes allot of issues when used, despite prior guidance to avoid it. As an alternative, use the keyboard shortcuts for navigating back and forward or reopen the video to achieve the same result.
• The built-in download feature has been removed. This functionality was already partially broken and became completely unusable following the introduction of SABR. In its existing state, it lacked many features users typically expect from a YouTube downloader, and restoring it would have required a significant rewrite just to bring it back to a minimal, maintenance-level condition. Given the scope of work required and the availability of more robust, dedicated tools such as yt-dlp and various online download services, we determined that removing the built-in downloader was the most practical decision.

YouTube

• YouTube has removed its Trending page, but FreeTube’s Trending page remains available by sourcing data from the trending sections of the Gaming, Sports, and Podcasts channels.
• YouTube has updated its search filters, and FreeTube has been updated to match these changes.

Electron

Updating from Electron v34 to Electron v41 introduces the following notable changes:

• macOS 11 is no longer supported, as Electron v38.0.0 does not support this OS version. macOS 12 (Monterey) or later is required to run FreeTube going forward.
• Wayland is supported out of the box in Electron v38.2.0 and newer (if you were previously launching your Electron apps with very long commands like CONFUSING_OZONE_VARIABLE --ozone-platform=wayland, you no longer need to do that).

Known issues

• Sorting on channel pages isnt working
• Daily YouTube RSS outages affects the Subscription page
• Auto video quality isnt working with SABR so it will be patched out for this release

Features

• Clickable playlist progress bar by @PikachuEXE and @NishPatel101 in #7782
• Add Everforest color themes by @DontBlameMe99 in #6468
• Add support for channel's Courses tab by @ChunkyProgrammer in #6641
• Add playlist duration to playlist view by @MarmadileManteater in #7007
• Add watch progress saving setting with multiple different modes by @PikachuEXE in #6754
• Add support for upcoming livestream trailers by @ChunkyProgrammer in #6375
• Add "New Windows" item to the Windows taskbar and macOS dock menu by @rugabunda in #7049
• Add more YouTube keyboard shortcuts to the player by @efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc in #7487
• Implement a "search X in new window" context menu item by @PikachuEXE in #7477
• Add a reset button to the search filters by @ozrendev in #7531
• Add sort by date on history page by @anurag2787 in #7157
• Handle more YouTube URLs by @absidue in #7654
• Add support for transcript voice replies with the local API by @ChunkyProgrammer in #7573
• Add support for viewing posts with the Local API by @ChunkyProgrammer in #7728
• Add keyboard shortcuts to go to the next or previous item while viewing playlists on the watch page by @im-jking in #7593
• Add an option to the Parental Control settings to hide the video uploader on the watch page by @DontBlameMe99 in #7514
• Show a popup in the player when rewinding or fast forwarding by @caetano-dev in #7729
• Add an option to minimise to the system tray on Windows and Linux by @Devenor in #6915
• Show liked by uploader on nested comments by @ozrendev in #7926
• Transform in-app URLs into YouTube URLs when dragging them by @absidue in #7970
• Support exporting single playlists as a list of video URLs by @absidue in #8054
• Show player controls on keyboard interaction by @caetano-dev in #7757
• Add username and password fields for proxies support by @Vaipex in #7996
• Add a "New Window" button to the tray menu by @Devenor in #7995
• Add Catpuccin Latte Theme by @ozrendev in #7943
• Add support for importing and exporting YouTube and FreeTube search history by @absidue in #8237
• Add a share button to posts by @aditya0155 in #8317
• Add support for exporting watch history in YouTube's JSON format by @absidue in #8323
• Support exporting single playlists in YouTube's CSV format by @absidue in #8430
• Add a "Show All Windows" button to the tray menu by @absidue in #8494
• Implement YouTube's SABR by @PikachuEXE in #8047
• Add button to open live YouTube's live chat popup in the browser by @ozrendev in #8278
• Add support for showing premier videos in the Up Next section by @absidue in #7848

Fixes

• Prevent scrolling inside a prompt from scrolling the page behind it by @antoniosarro in #6698
• Fix video pausing when saving a screenshot to the default folder by @absidue in #6721
• Fix layout issues caused by videos with very long titles in the Up Next section by @ozrendev in #6731
• Fix incorrect 'Enter' behaviour when using IME input by @j-nava in #6799
• Fix search history texts overflowing for long search terms by @ozrendev in #6728
• Fix Matrix URLs by @efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc in #6891
• Fix loading the community tab on channels with the Invidious API by @ChunkyProgrammer in #6933
• Fix CTRL+click to reset playback rate not working by @absidue in #6943
• Fix search suggestions erroring with long search queries by @absidue in #6955
• Fix layout issues on the About page on smaller screens by @NeonMan5311 in #7012
• Fix being able to have duplicate keyword search history due to spaces by @PikachuEXE in #7110
• Fix images not showing up occasionally because of YouTube ratelimits by @absidue in https://gi...

v0.23.15 Beta

Summary

This hotfix release fixes the [UNPLAYABLE] Video unavailable: The page needs to be reloaded. errors.

A special thanks to @LuanRT, the maintainer of YouTube.js, for their invaluable contribution in creating this fix. If you'd like to support their continued development, consider making a donation to show your appreciation.

• https://github.com/sponsors/LuanRT
• https://ko-fi.com/luanrt

Fixes

• Bump youtubei.js from 16.0.1 to 17.0.1 by @dependabot and @absidue in #8818

v0.23.14 Beta

Summary

This hotfix release adds a workaround for the [object Object] errors that occurred when attempting to play any kind of video.

Note

This workaround is just a temporary fix and could stop working at any point in time.

Fixes

• Force player to use 9f4cc5e4 as a temporarily workaround by @efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc in #8736

v0.23.13 Beta

Summary

This hotfix release fixes the [BAD_HTTP_STATUS: 403] Potential causes: IP block or streaming URL deciphering failed errors that occurred when accessing live streams.

A massive thanks to @absidue for providing the fix regarding these errors. If you'd like to support their continued development, consider making a donation to show your appreciation.

• https://github.com/sponsors/absidue

Fixes

• Decipher live DASH manifest URL by @absidue in #8530

v0.23.12 Beta

Summary

This hotfix release fixes the [BAD_HTTP_STATUS: 403] Potential causes: IP block or streaming URL deciphering failed errors.

We'd like to extend a special thanks to @LuanRT, the maintainer of YouTube.js, for their invaluable contribution in developing the fix for the playback issues in the previous release. If you'd like to support their continued development, consider making a donation to show your appreciation.

• https://github.com/sponsors/LuanRT
• https://ko-fi.com/luanrt

Fixes

• Fix video playback by using video ID bound poToken by @PikachuEXE and @absidue in #8137
• Add error handling to the deciphering code by @absidue in #8139

v0.23.11 Beta

Summary

This hotfix release fixes the Refused to execute inline script errors that were causing the infinite loading screen.

We'd like to extend a special thanks to @LuanRT, the maintainer of YouTube.js, for their invaluable contribution in developing the fix for the playback issues in the previous release. If you'd like to support their continued development, consider making a donation to show your appreciation.

• https://github.com/sponsors/LuanRT
• https://ko-fi.com/luanrt

Fixes

• Fix sigFrameScript by @PikachuEXE and @absidue in #8127