Homebrew We need a new YouTube for Wii U

[Creepy_629]

Just today I wanted to watch a bit of YouTube on my console, until I get the surprising message that the service has finally been discontinued. I thought it appropriate to touch on this topic as it seems to have happened just today, and I'd love to recommend any developer about creating a homebrew version of YouTube, and thus continue to enjoy those who do not have smart screens or those who like to watch videos on CRT televisions or similar.

I hope this message serves as inspiration, commemoration or anything, for now I say goodbye forum!

 

[Ettino]

Oh no! Anyway, what's this? https://github.com/GaryOderNichts/GiveMiiYouTube/

 

[Moon164]

Oh no! Anyway, what's this? https://github.com/GaryOderNichts/GiveMiiYouTube/

I wonder if it would be possible to create a version of this for the Wii version of Youtube that was discontinued with the end of the Wii Shop or even with the Wii and Wii U Netflix App.

 

[dtlux1]

I wonder if it would be possible to create a version of this for the Wii version of Youtube that was discontinued with the end of the Wii Shop or even with the Wii and Wii U Netflix App.

None of these will ever be possible. The reason this works on Wii U is because the only thing that "discontinued" the app is a small check with Nintendo's servers to see if you can access the YouTube application. Nintendo's servers of course tell you that it has been discontinued, but if you bypass that check the app still works perfectly fine, much like the PS3 no PSN patched YouTube app.

Google actually discontinued the Wii YouTube application when they dropped all support for Adobe Flash apps in 2017, and Netflix is proprietary and a paid service that discontinued the apps on their end of things. None of these are possible to bring back in such a simple way as disabling a check with Nintendo's servers that keep you out of the app.

 

[jeffyTheHomebrewer]

Wait, some actual Wii channels used Flash? Outside of the Internet Channel??

 

[SMNFXCN]

also this

 

[SMNFXCN]

nvm: you still have to use https://github.com/PretendoNetwork/GiveMiiYouTube

 

[MikaDubbz]

nvm: you still have to use https://github.com/PretendoNetwork/GiveMiiYouTube
View attachment 335098

I see, Pretendo is currently maintained for both Aroma and Tiramisu, does this feature not work in Tiramisu with Pretendo? I'd check myself but I deleted the Wii U Youtube app awhile ago, I have like 5 other ways at my immediate ready to play Youtube on my TV, just seems so pointless now. Plus my Youtube Wii U app would randomly crash from time to time and I never really figured out why, my best guess is it has something to do with me being right up against the 300 title limit, since no one else seemed to know what I was talking about whenever I mentioned or asked about it. All the same I'm curious if this is a dividing feature for Pretendo depending on your CFW environment.

 

[SMNFXCN]

i used the youtube app prior to the shutdown to see (since for some reason there was two youtube apps on the cdn and the differences seem to be minor, testing them both) and yeah i experienced that same lag just navigating. although i don't remember the app crashing at all.

 

[jeffyTheHomebrewer]

nvm: you still have to use https://github.com/PretendoNetwork/GiveMiiYouTube
View attachment 335098

Heh, seems about right. All the YT app is is just a watered down browser like on the 3DS; that's why it looks consistent on every TV platform, be it Xbox 360 through Fire TV Cube Generation 2, it's all a web app baby!

 

[dtlux1]

I see, Pretendo is currently maintained for both Aroma and Tiramisu, does this feature not work in Tiramisu with Pretendo? I'd check myself but I deleted the Wii U Youtube app awhile ago, I have like 5 other ways at my immediate ready to play Youtube on my TV, just seems so pointless now. Plus my Youtube Wii U app would randomly crash from time to time and I never really figured out why, my best guess is it has something to do with me being right up against the 300 title limit, since no one else seemed to know what I was talking about whenever I mentioned or asked about it. All the same I'm curious if this is a dividing feature for Pretendo depending on your CFW environment.

I think you may be talking about the crash where there's an infinite loading icon and the only way to close the app is to force shutdown the Wii U. That seems to be common on the Wii U YouTube app, but no one watches long enough to even experience it. I only encountered it like once every 30-50 hours of using the app myself.

As for your question if this works without Pretendo Network, it is an Aroma plugin. It will work perfectly fine with both Pretendo and the Nintendo Network, but only if you are using Aroma. There is no GiveMiiYouTube plugin for Tiramasu, though theoretically it could be made if you know how to.

 

[MikaDubbz]

I think you may be talking about the crash where there's an infinite loading icon and the only way to close the app is to force shutdown the Wii U. That seems to be common on the Wii U YouTube app, but no one watches long enough to even experience it. I only encountered it like once every 30-50 hours of using the app myself.

This is exactly the crash I'm talking about. Thing is I only have to watch for a short while for the crash to happen, it's happened in as little as 10 minutes before, but that's rare, sometimes it doesn't seem to happen at all, but the average seems to occur around 45 minutes to an hour. I recognize that for whatever reason, my experience with the YouTube app and how frequently it has caused such crashes is not typical at all, and honestly at this point I really don't care, removing it frees up another title slot on the home menu, and like I said, I have too many easy options to pull up Youtube on my TV as it is, though the two screen nature was always nice, especially for searching for things more quickly, and having a mirrored screen when I run to the bathroom lol.

I do wish there was a homebrew media player app for the Wii U natively, it's a great device for watching things thanks to those above listed benefits, and with local files you could store, you can see how nice the touch interface could be for navigating such an app (if programmed in that way anyway). It's a major shame to see official video playback on the Wii U essentially dead. It's good that we can keep Youtube alive in the homebrew scene, but I imagine at some point without being updated, the code will break and this plugin wont be enough to keep it functioning. Even other unofficial solutions like setting up a Plex server used to work great, not longer works on the Wii U. Ultimately there needs to be some sort of homebrew solution that gives us local access to media files, though I know that's way easier said than done with the Wii U.

 

[dtlux1]

This is exactly the crash I'm talking about. Thing is I only have to watch for a short while for the crash to happen, it's happened in as little as 10 minutes before, but that's rare, sometimes it doesn't seem to happen at all, but the average seems to occur around 45 minutes to an hour.

It seems to be a problem with how the Wii U app itself works, so I wonder if changing the user ID of the app will fix it or not. I have no clue why it happened, but it was always annoying when I had to force shutdown the console. I bet it would be super annoying to have to do it every hour or so, so I don't blame you for not using the app. I wonder what causes it, because I also haven't seen anyone really talk about it. I assume it's because almost no one used the Wii U app in the first place, and among those who did it didn't happen often enough to ask about. I'm glad I'm not the only one who experienced it though, because I thought I might have been crazy.

 

[MikaDubbz]

It seems to be a problem with how the Wii U app itself works, so I wonder if changing the user ID of the app will fix it or not. I have no clue why it happened, but it was always annoying when I had to force shutdown the console. I bet it would be super annoying to have to do it every hour or so, so I don't blame you for not using the app. I wonder what causes it, because I also haven't seen anyone really talk about it. I assume it's because almost no one used the Wii U app in the first place, and among those who did it didn't happen often enough to ask about. I'm glad I'm not the only one who experienced it though, because I thought I might have been crazy.

Yeah, I'm not even really bothered by it being picky with my Wii U at this point since its so easy to get Youtube on my TV through other means as it is; but I have always been curious about what the actual issue was. I asked about it once forever ago, and no one seemed to know what I was talking about, so I let it go, and realized that something with my Wii U's setup specifically must be the problem.

 

[N7Kopper]

The backend API was updated, and now the Wii U version doesn't work for real and needs further patching.

 

[jeffyTheHomebrewer]

IDK, I feel like at this point someone should just port Thirdtube (a 3DS YouTube client) to the Wii U, maybe somehow toss in support for Google Cast if possible (though maybe not..)

 

[Vague Rant]

The backend API was updated, and now the Wii U version doesn't work for real and needs further patching.

I just fired up YouTube on my end with Gary's plugin and it's still working fine for me. Watching a video as I type this. Are you sure your plugin is up-to-date (v2.0)?

 

[SMNFXCN]

I think you may be talking about the crash where there's an infinite loading icon and the only way to close the app is to force shutdown the Wii U. That seems to be common on the Wii U YouTube app, but no one watches long enough to even experience it. I only encountered it like once every 30-50 hours of using the app myself.

As for your question if this works without Pretendo Network, it is an Aroma plugin. It will work perfectly fine with both Pretendo and the Nintendo Network, but only if you are using Aroma. There is no GiveMiiYouTube plugin for Tiramasu, though theoretically it could be made if you know how to.

oh. i remember this. it drove me crazy. similar thing happened on netflix too. this was years ago, though. i think the message was "unable to contact youtube" and required a restart (as quitting and relaunching didn't fix it)

 

[TheAvacado]

Just today I wanted to watch a bit of YouTube on my console, until I get the surprising message that the service has finally been discontinued. I thought it appropriate to touch on this topic as it seems to have happened just today, and I'd love to recommend any developer about creating a homebrew version of YouTube, and thus continue to enjoy those who do not have smart screens or those who like to watch videos on CRT televisions or similar.

I hope this message serves as inspiration, commemoration or anything, for now I say goodbye forum!

There are several homebrews that fix this easily.

 

[SuperDan]

anything like this for cbch users?