Video's don't play with "content not available on this app" error

[Fludizz]

Context

Please provide any relevant information about your setup

• Add-on Version: 7.0.1
• Kodi Version: 20.1
• Kodi GUI Language: English
• Operating System: LibreELEC 11.01
• Operating System Language: English

---

Expected Behavior

Video's play as normal.

---

Current Behavior

Since this morning (Europe timezone), the Youtube plugin is unable to play any video's wth the error stating "Content not available on this app". Everything was working fine yesterday evening and into the night.

Disabling/enabling InputStream Adaptive for video playback makes no difference.

---

Steps to Reproduce

Please provide detailed steps for reproducing the issue.

1. Try to play any video (e.g. from your subscription feed).
2. Get the error.

---

Log

https://pastebin.com/4sn6gRgJ

---

EDIT

Fixed version:
Alpha release appears to have resolved the majority of the issues so far:
https://github.com/anxdpanic/plugin.video.youtube/releases/tag/7.x.x-dev
Not in Stable branch (yet), so leaving the issue open until pushed to Stable branch.

Potential (manual) Workaround(s):
@RNavega provided a fix that seems to work for now:
#442 (comment)
Specifically, the "payload" section seems to be the fix.

Another version of the fix to video_info.py which seems to be more reliable:
#442 (comment)

[JohnMostlyR]

Experiencing the same problem. It started yesterday, April 12, with some channels but as of now it wont play anything anymore.

Add-on version: 6.8.25+matrix.1
Kodi: 19.5.0
Kodi GUI language: English
Kodi skin: Estuary
OS: Windows 10

[taleteller]

I have exactly the same issue since today:

Add-on Version: 7.0.1
Kodi Version: 20.1
Kodi GUI Language: German
Operating System: LibreELEC 11.01
Operating System Language: German

[ThubLives]

I experienced the same issue yesterday evening, but repeatedly retrying the same video would often result in a successfully played video. By the end of the night, no amount of retries would result in playing any videos. All videos played fine in a browser.

[joaquinito2070]

I think that YouTube changed something. El jue, 13 abr 2023 a las 16:06, ThubLives ***@***.***>) escribió:

…

I experienced the same issue yesterday evening, but repeatedly retrying the same video would often result in a successfully played video. By the end of the night, no amount of retries would result in playing any videos. All videos played fine in a browser. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#442 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/A4KDOK3ZFMDMGVFNWRSFXDTXBAB5FANCNFSM6AAAAAAW4VEH2A> . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[scindiver]

North America, broken @ 0730 EDT across 4 devices, all using same account. Attempting to reauthorize API, at 2nd OAuth token input, receive this from google.com/device: "Access blocked: Project xxxx has not completed the Google verification process"

[bmh67wa]

Kodi 20.1 (LibreELEC 11.01)
App version 7.0.1
Language: English
Skin: Confluence

Same issue. I still appear to be logged in as it loads my subscriptions but when I go to play them it says that the content isn't available on the app.

[scindiver]

On 1 of 4 devices that failed I did the following:
uninstalled, reinstalled,
set API keys using a 2nd google account
configured the addon
attempted to OAuth (received above "Access blocked" on 2nd token as reported earlier)

I then went back into the project on console.cloud.google.com and added this 2nd account as a test user and re-did the OAuth tokens.

• See basic steps to add test user here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/75454425/access-blocked-project-has-not-completed-the-google-verification-process

I was then able to successfully view.

Update: Adding a test user to an existing accounts projects OAuth and logging out / logging back in to renew the OAuth tokens does NOT seem to resolve the issue but I need to do more testing. The newly created account however was able to view on a device that was not working this morning.

Update2: This 2nd account setup workaround now fails with the same error message.

[RowCZ]

Same here

Spec:
Kodi (18.9 (18.9.0) Git:leia_pi4_18.9-Leia). Platform: Linux ARM 32-bit
Kodi compiled 2021-07-06 by GCC 8.3.0 for Linux ARM 32-bit version 4.19.127 (267135)
Running on LibreELEC (official): 9.2.8, kernel: Linux ARM 32-bit version 4.19.127
plugin.video.youtube version="6.8.25"

part of log:
2023-04-13 02:51:43.772 T:2045301568 ERROR: Traceback (most recent call last):
2023-04-13 02:51:43.772 T:2045301568 ERROR: File "/storage/.kodi/addons/plugin.video.youtube/resources/lib/youtube_plugin/youtube/helper/yt_play.py", line 50, in play_video
2023-04-13 02:51:43.772 T:2045301568 ERROR: video_streams = client.get_video_streams(context, video_id)
2023-04-13 02:51:43.772 T:2045301568 ERROR: File "/storage/.kodi/addons/plugin.video.youtube/resources/lib/youtube_plugin/youtube/client/youtube.py", line 102, in get_video_streams
2023-04-13 02:51:43.772 T:2045301568 ERROR: video_streams = video_info.load_stream_infos(video_id)
2023-04-13 02:51:43.772 T:2045301568 ERROR: File "/storage/.kodi/addons/plugin.video.youtube/resources/lib/youtube_plugin/youtube/helper/video_info.py", line 547, in load_stream_infos
2023-04-13 02:51:43.773 T:2045301568 ERROR: return self._method_get_video_info(video_id)
2023-04-13 02:51:43.773 T:2045301568 ERROR: File "/storage/.kodi/addons/plugin.video.youtube/resources/lib/youtube_plugin/youtube/helper/video_info.py", line 882, in _method_get_video_info
2023-04-13 02:51:43.773 T:2045301568 ERROR: raise YouTubeException(reason)
2023-04-13 02:51:43.773 T:2045301568 ERROR: YouTubeException: The following content is not available on this app.
2023-04-13 02:51:43.773 T:2045301568 ERROR: [plugin.video.youtube] None

[probonopd]

Same issue.

[JohnQuincyAddingMachine]

I believe this was intentional on Google's part, though perhaps not specifically targeting this plugin: This same error message has effectively killed off the last version of the Vanced YouTube client for Android.

[bartosz-antosik]

Just to give some update from other place (CE). I had exactly the same symptoms yesterday, but today I was able to flawlessly play two Videos from YT. So it seems that it was kind of a transient problem on the YT part.

[Fludizz]

@bartosz-antosik based on your comment, I have tested here again this morning: We are still seeing the same issue.

I have tried the following:

• Set InputStream Adaptive to various settings and down to 480p: No effect, video's won't play.
• Disabling InputStream Adaptive (using the plugin built-in method) and changing settings down 480p: No effect, video's won't play.

So it does not matter whether you use HD or SD settings, nor which prefered codec you've selected (in InputStream).

Interesting observation: We have another mediacenter running LibreELEC 9.2.8 (Kodi 18.9) and the latest Python2 version of the Youtube Plugin. This old version currently is still able to play video's normally.

[taleteller]

Has anyone tried to replace the user agent string in this plugin with a more recent version? Its possible youtube deprecated ancient devices and browsers for playback and takes the http requests for coming from one of those.

[bartosz-antosik]

@Fludizz I understand. Cannot really tell why is this. I got here yesterday, following "content not available on this app" prompt which described precisely my situation which started in the evening the day before yesterday. So I am only describing my situation, the generalization I have made might have been premature. On the other hand, it may be some rolling update to the servers' functionality, etc.

So generally it seems to have reverted to working for me.

[taleteller]

Well it does not seem to be that simple just to change the user agent, but I dont understand the code well. Considering the exception raises in _method_get_video_info() of video_info.py I would assume its some magic version string or an API deprecation responsible. Clearly requires dev attention.

[RManPT]

Same here. Seems to me that Youtube is systematically blocking access to apps that don't show ads. Hopefully there is a workaround or compromise.

https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/12318250?hl=en-GB

[Rferreira2k]

Solved (for me):

• Youtube add-on configuration
• Advanced
• Uncheck "force ssl certificate verification"

I still don't know what the consequences of unchecking this option are, but now all videos work fine!

Kodi 20.1
Language Portuguese (BR)
Youtube Plugin 7.0.1

[taleteller]

@Rferreira2k Cant confirm that, still fails at the same location with the same error.

                                                   
2023-04-14 20:27:37.796 T:7125    error <general>:   File "/storage/.kodi/addons/plugin.video.youtube/resources/lib/youtube_plugin/youtube/helper/video_info.py", line 860, in _method_get_video_info
                                                       raise YouTubeException(reason)
2023-04-14 20:27:37.796 T:7125    error <general>: youtube_plugin.youtube.youtube_exceptions.YouTubeException: Die folgenden Inhalte sind in dieser App nicht verfügbar.                                                

[scindiver]

Still failing with and without Force SSL Certificate Verification setting.

Reconfiguring using a Google account that has not watched videos within the last 6-9 months, I was able to get them to play on RPi3b+ and Vero4k+. At least, for the moment... (Force SSL cert verification setting does not appear to have an effect with the new user account.) This requires resetting a new API key, client ID, secret as well as the 2 OAuth keys. And it may not work for very long. -- You'll also need to re-add any channel subscriptions as well so it can be a bit of a pain. And again, I'm not certain how long this workaround (if it works for you) will continue to work. (Vaguely reminiscent of DTV's Black Sunday??)

YouTube Addon: 6.8.25+matrix.1
OSMC: 2023.01-1
Kodi: 19.5
RbPi 3B+ & Vero4K+

Update: Still working after 24 hrs.
Update2: Still working > 48 hrs.
Update 4/18 @ 1224 GMT: Still working with zero issues.
Update 4/20 @ 1705 EDT: Still working on RPi3b+ and Vero4k+, no code modifications. Wife reported it "broken" this morning @ 0730 EDT but unable to confirm.
Update 4/24 @ 1002 EDT: Still working.

[larryxxl2]

Video's don't play with "content not available on this app" error
Same issue.

[kuene]

Same Issue here.

[probonopd]

Possibly this might work as a quick and dirty workaround (while waiting for a proper fix)?
#211 (comment)

Possibly a proper fix could be made using https://github.com/lekma/script.module.yt-dlp/?

[MatthiasCoppens]

It was fixed for me 14 & 15 April, but today it stopped again. This is on LibreELEC 10.0.4 (RPi4.arm).

[probonopd]

For me it was not working the last two days but today it is working again. Kinda random.

[WestDvina]

Doesn't work with the same error.

KODI 19.5
Windows 11 x64
and
RPi 3B+
LibreELEC
KODI 18

[Forlorn-Hope]

Video's don't play with the "content not available on this app" error

Add-on Version: 7.0.1
Kodi Version: 20.1
Kodi GUI Language: English
Operating System: LibreELEC 11.01
Operating System Language: English

[nickrbogdanov]

I've been seeing this error intermittently for the past few weeks. Does it still happen if you're subscribed to YouTube Red?

[JohnMostlyR]

Experiencing the same problem. It started yesterday, April 12, with some channels but as of now it wont play anything anymore.

Add-on version: 6.8.25+matrix.1
Kodi: 19.5.0
Kodi GUI language: English
Kodi skin: Estuary
OS: Windows 10

Tried again yesterday evening, April 16, and I was able to play a video again! However, today its not.

I guess its clearly not a bug but rather Google who implemented an allowe/dissallow switch for third party apps.

[mryellow]

There is a path forward which would fix it. You pretty much describe it at #442 (comment)

The main annoying part is:

You will also need to update the settings.xml for the new settings that were added.

The settings file format changes along with the migration to Python 3.

With Python 3 set back to 2, and that settings file hand modified back while retaining tweaks.

• Then 6.8.26 could be released with Python 2 and patches.
• Then 6.9.0 could be released with Python updated to version 3.
• Then all systems could have a working version and the changes would be disentangled and manageable.

At which point you'd probably be a happier and less stressed person in general.

[MoojMidge]

I really don't know what you are trying to achieve by misunderstanding and incorrectly explaining my own comments back to me, but it is quite amusing, so keep going mate.

FYI there is no Python 3 specific code being used, and you are still mixing up the Leia and Matrix branches, so maybe you can have a look at that part first for your next act.

[mryellow]

there is no Python 3 specific code being used

That's right. That's one of the many reasons why updating to Python 3 during patching was a mistake.

Lets make this very simple.

Is updating a major version in dependency something which is done during a patch version release?

Can you think of any reasons why this should be avoided?

[MoojMidge]

Lol... I really don't know why you want to keep going at this.

That's right. That's one of the many reasons why updating to Python 3 during patching was a mistake.

There was no update to Python 3 code, it is the exact same code.

Is updating a major version in dependency something which is done during a patch version release?

Major version of what?

Can you think of any reasons why this should be avoided?

Avoid what?

Are you now tilting at the windmill called xbmc.python? That is provided by Kodi itself, not by the plugin. Different versions of the plugin target different Kodi versions using different branches. This has been explained to you multiple times.

Different features and updates were added to the Matrix and Nexus branches of this plugin, and not to Leia, because Leia was no longer supported. Even though you yourself could not manage to do so, multiple people have already done the work to bring those additional changes to the Leia and Matrix branches as well - it is not that difficult but does require time and effort.

Despite how much you complain about not being able to to do this yourself, all you are doing is making yourself look extremely ignorant. Are you really so naive to think that if you can't do something that it must be impossible? That the principles of semver have been violated (!!) and that's why you can't seem to understand what is going on?

Let's just conveniently ignore those other people who have already achieved the impossible shall we?

[mryellow]

Major version of what?

Python.

This commit was mixed in with the patch rather than having the fix separate to major dependency updates.

607d586

Avoid what?

You having to rage daily when people point out that the software no longer works for them.

By keeping Major version updates of dependencies out of Patch versions you avoid the difficultly now being experiencing in backporting those patches.

• MAJOR version when you make incompatible API changes
• MINOR version when you add functionality in a backward compatible manner
• PATCH version when you make backward compatible bug fixes

https://semver.org/

Despite how much you complain about not being able to to do this yourself

We can do without the ad hominem nonsense and toxicity thanks. I have a functional build from source, I'm more concerned about the people unable to do this for themselves and who rely on repo releases.

[MoojMidge]

@mryellow - You are so utterly confused, but if you just took the time to understand the situation and read the explanations given to you, instead of complaining about nothing, you just might be able to get there in the end.

This commit was mixed in with the patch rather than having the fix separate to major dependency updates.

607d586

Lol so you are complaining about xbmc.python being updated in the addon.xml, unbelievable.

It is not mixed in with anything. It was a new commit in the the Matrix specific branch that targets, wait for it... Kodi Matrix. The plugin does not bump this arbitrarily, the version of Kodi version being targeted does.

By keeping Major version updates of dependencies out of Patch versions you avoid the difficultly now being experiencing in backporting those patches.

This "Major version updates of dependencies" is a single line in a single file, if you think this is so critical, you can just change it back and everything should just magically work because of the magic of semver right?

There is no difficulty, despite your complaints. Everything is in seperate branches. You just don't know what you are talking about and continue to mix up Kodi Leia, Matrix, and Nexus and the associated branches for this plugin, that individually targets those different Kodi versions.

Here is an example that may blow your mind: #496

Funy how you seem to be the only one having problems in understanding how this all works.

We can do without the ad hominem nonsense and toxicity thanks.

That is cute. Was all of the following from someone else?

You having to rage daily
That must be why you rage
I really don't get why you reply to every comment with all this emotional nonsense.
you should really consider doing something else for awhile to relax.

To be clear we all know the current release of this plugin does not work (thats what this issue and others are for), but you are the only one complaining that the entire project is an unmaintainable mess because you can't figure out how to create any backport fixes.

The only personal attacks are coming from you - you literally do not know what you are talking about but still want to argue about how to develop this plugin and insult and condescend to anyone who has attempted to explain to you why you are mistaken.

You have also continuously implied that:

• that people updating the plugin don't know what they are doing when providing fixes or backports;
• that the person maintaining the plugin doesn't know what they are doing and has made such major mistakes that they have caused the plugin to become unmaintainable;
• that nobody involved in this project understand how semver works (despite this not even being any kind of requirement) and this this magical version numbering is the root cause of the disastrous development practices that have caused your problems; and
• that I am wasting my time if I don't support your hardware.

If you weren't so earnest in explaining how you know better than everyone else, and denigrating them for your own inability to understand how different branches work and how to create backport fixes yourself, I would normally just consider you a run of the mill internet troll, but I think you actually are just this insufferable.

[giaur500]

@MoojMidge what is support policy for that plugin? From what you said, Matrix sitll gets support right? So we can expect updates to be pushed to official repo?

[mryellow]

Lol so you are complaining about xbmc.python being updated in the addon.xml, unbelievable.

I'm complaining about MAJOR changes in a PATCH.

It was a new commit in the the Matrix specific branch that targets, wait for it... Kodi Matrix.

It breaks Matrix on some platforms. There are related changes in resources/settings.xml which are required for this patch. These changes are now in an incompatible format and must be redone in order to backport to Python 2 versions.

is a single line in a single file

You are mistaken.

Please just stop with the toxic vitriol.

[MoojMidge]

I'm complaining about MAJOR changes in a PATCH.

Yes I know, but just because you say something doesn't make it true. The change happened in a completely different branch for a completely different version of Kodi. Why is this so difficult for you to understand? Your basic premise has been wrong from the very start but you can't seem to give up this fixation (how many months has it been now?)

It breaks Matrix on some platforms

No it does not. You may be confused because you are not very familiar with how all this works, but a Matrix release of this plugin will be compatible with Kodi Matrix for all platforms.

There are related changes in resources/settings.xml which are required for this patch. These changes are now in an incompatible format and must be redone in order to backport to Python 2 versions.

No there are not, this has nothing to do with Python 2 vs Python 3. You may be confusing the two issues because you don't know what those commits actually do, but in fact the Matrix specific changes for the settings may actually be compatible with Kodi Leia - it just hasn't been tested. Why don't you do something productive, give it a go, and report any problems?

All that has happened is that new updates were made to a branch that targeted the current Kodi branch at the time, and no similar updates were made to the old branch because it was not supported.

If you want to support it you need to make similar Kodi Leia changes to the correct branch, as has already been done in #496 and a bunch of previous PRs that you continue to ignore.

You are mistaken.

Nope. I'm very certain I know what I am talking about. The "MAJOR changes in a PATCH" that you keep complaining about are specifically related to the targeted xbmc.python version in the addon.xml

Please just stop with the toxic vitriol.

You are in control of yourself. I'm simply pointing out that you are mistaken and you continue to be mistaken while you go around insulting people who aren't just pretending to have knowledge of the topic you are arguing about.

You can take these responses however you want, but you are a random person on the internet and have no say in what I say or do. At every step in our discourse I have afforded you the same level of respect you are providing everyone else.

A normal person with some perspective and the ability for introspection, upon having troubles figuring things out, would have asked for some help.

Instead we have you, who goes off blindly blaming everyone else for being an idiot, because you just don't understand what you are talking about and refuse to listen.

[WTFThatPerson]

@MoojMidge
At first, thank You once more for Your job at this plug-in
At second, don't pay ANY attention to obviously trolls, because:
a) You can't explain them nothing by their design
b) It is their main target to destroy Your mental balance
So, don't help them :)

[mryellow]

Rather than engaging with this I'll simply repeat what I said earlier.

It's all good mate.

[xyzfre]

@MoojMidge

At first, thank You once more for Your job at this plug-in

At second, don't pay ANY attention to obviously trolls, because:

a) You can't explain them nothing by their design

b) It is their main target to destroy Your mental balance

So, don't help them :)

I totally agree. You are doing an amazing job keeping this plugin working properly for us end users ,I am very grateful for all your hard work and dedication @MoojMidge , Using Omega ,Windows 11 , AH2

[9pr19]

@MoojMidge thank you for your dedicated hard work on this plugin and doing your best maintening it.

I guess it’s time to close this issue even if some people are unhappy with it. I also want to see the last version as soon as possible on the Kodi addon repository - but time is precious and some time you just do not want to do it just because and you do not have to justify it.

Noting that the temporary bypass should be at the hand of most people reading this issue on Github (downloading manually the last version and extracting it in the right folder - taking care to backup the current installed version by copying the directory somewhere else).

If people are unhappy and think they can do better - I guess they can easily fork the addon and propose a «better» version on their own time.

Cheers

[NH3CL]

I guess it’s time to close this issue even if some people are unhappy with it

Or just dump the whole project, as this is a mandatory failure (FYI the plugin is NOT WORKING since this year april.)

[Chaphasilor]

Just in case someone is still wondering how to (potentially) fix this and feels lost in this 600 comments thread like I did:
^{(this is no new info, just a summary of the thread)}

1. Go to the release page and look for the pre-release (link: https://github.com/anxdpanic/plugin.video.youtube/releases/tag/7.x.x-dev)
2. Expand the "Assets" if they're not already expanded, and download one of the zip files (v7 for Kodi 20, v6 for Kodi 19 I think. I used the one without the "unofficial").
3. Copy the downloaded zip file somewhere you can find it in Kodi (like your home directory)
4. In Kodi, go to Settings > Addons > Install from zip file, then navigate to the directory where the downloaded zip is, and select it to install the alpha version.
5. Video playback should work now, at least they do play for me (OSMC Kodi 20, alpha7)

[mconrado]

Just in case someone is still wondering how to (potentially) fix this and feels lost in this 600 comments thread like I did: (this is no new info, just a summary of the thread)

1. Go to the release page and look for the pre-release (link: https://github.com/anxdpanic/plugin.video.youtube/releases/tag/7.x.x-dev)

2. Expand the "Assets" if they're not already expanded, and download one of the zip files (v7 for Kodi 20, v6 for Kodi 19 I think. I used the one without the "unofficial").

3. Copy the downloaded zip file somewhere you can find it in Kodi (like your home directory)

4. In Kodi, go to Settings > Addons > Install from zip file, then navigate to the directory where the downloaded zip is, and select it to install the alpha version.

5. Video playback should work now, at least they do play for me (OSMC Kodi 20, alpha7)

It is working for me. Thank you guys @MoojMidge @Chaphasilor !

[MoojMidge]

Thanks to (mostly) everyone for the patience and understanding, as well as the valued contributions of those who have taken the time to provide guidance and explanations to help others.

A new final release has been published to fix this and other issues: v7.0.2.1

It will soon also make its way into the official Kodi plugin repository, to provide an automatic update for those who are unable to install the release manually.

Note that the Matrix and unofficial versions have not been tested. You can report any problems with these in a new issue report.

With this release out of the way, I think this issue can now be closed 😃

[mryellow]

What about 6.8.26 patch version and potentially 6.9.x with Python 3 added?

[MoojMidge]

There are already PRs for Kodi Leia that have been merged, two currently still open, and others to come if people decide to continue support. This won't include me, although I may try to update the workflows to submit a release to the official Kodi repository (but this would be a fairly low priority).

This has nothing to do with Python 2 or Python 3 support and there is no reason to create a random v6.9.x release when the master branch is already using v7.x

Would prefer not to get into this again, the situation has been explained in great detail already, and nothing has changed.

[sebma]

Is this issue fixed by the release v7.0.2.2 ?

[MoojMidge]

Yes, v7.0.2.2 includes a fix for this

[bugsyb]

For those who run into it, same as me, even having v7.0.2/whatever.
Check if have RTMP installed and in between it didn't work for me and worked, added SlyGuy InpuStream wrapper.

[snex]

I am getting this out of the blue on 7.0.4-nexus.1

[siennamediatest]

I am getting this out of the blue on 7.0.4-nexus.1

same

[kloodhu]

same.

[ThierryWillame]

Same problem on Eminent EM7680 box.

[MoojMidge]

No one is having this same problem now. This issue is about a specific error message that appeared resulting in no video playback, and has already been resolved over 5 months ago.

You may be having a different issue where the wrong video plays - a short 5 minute video which shows The following content is not available on this app. Watch this content on the latest version of YouTube, but you have not bothered to do a search to see the multiple other issues all raised about this exact same thing, nor bothered to actually provide any information to help resolve the problem.