Homebrew YouTube on the web browser is gone.

[huma_dawii]

So it finally happened, YouTube on our Wii U Web Browser is gone, gone are the days we were able to press Home and do a quick search for a YouTube video while playing that awesome game....

Now we are being forced to use the App which is slow and laggy AF and can't be opened while playing a game obviously.

I've tried to use a different agent but nothing works so far... I hope someone comes up with a solution for those of us who still use our beloved Wii U.

(Plus on the web browser you could search while playing a video... Big advantage).

 

[ShadowOne333]

I have two workarounds for this:

1. Change user agent to Chrome or Firefox on the browser's settings. Then search online for a direct link to change YouTube from trying to open the default desktop design to instead open the mobile site. This will make it so you can at least see the video lists appearing in your searches or subscriptions. Now, this won't make the videos play, simply a workaround to see the lists, for opening them, open the video you want in another tab, and add "&app=desktop" to the video link. You will see the video trying to load now, you just have to force it to play by pressing with the Pad's touchscreen on the area where the video is, hold the press until a window pops up, select "Play Video on Web Page". Then, when it starts playing, hold touch press again and select "Play Video on Fullscreen".
2. This involves having the default Wii U user agent, but still loading Youtube by default on the mobile design. Search around for a site that removes ads or makes thumbnail-like previews of the videos. Like the ones you see on Temp's news articles. Then simply copy-paste the video's link into the page that does so, and when the thumbnail video is ready, simply play it normally.

I find it incredibly awful that they decided to end official support for the WiiU through browser.
I hope someobe could make a browser homebrew of sorts for the WiiU, or hopefully someone can manage to make an updated version of the official browser that works fine on OFW.

 

[huma_dawii]

I have two workarounds for this:

1. Change user agent to Chrome or Firefox on the browser's settings. Then search online for a direct link to change YouTube from trying to open the default desktop design to instead open the mobile site. This will make it so you can at least see the video lists appearing in your searches or subscriptions. Now, this won't make the videos play, simply a workaround to see the lists, for opening them, open the video you want in another tab, and add "&app=desktop" to the video link. You will see the video trying to load now, you just have to force it to play by pressing with the Pad's touchscreen on the area where the video is, hold the press until a window pops up, select "Play Video on Web Page". Then, when it starts playing, hold touch press again and select "Play Video on Fullscreen".
2. This involves having the default Wii U user agent, but still loading Youtube by default on the mobile design. Search around for a site that removes ads or makes thumbnail-like previews of the videos. Like the ones you see on Temp's news articles. Then simply copy-paste the video's link into the page that does so, and when the thumbnail video is ready, simply play it normally.

I find it incredibly awful that they decided to end official support for the WiiU through browser.
I hope someobe could make a browser homebrew of sorts for the WiiU, or hopefully someone can manage to make an updated version of the official browser that works fine on OFW.

I think people should start messing with the web browser to make an update that allows YouTube to play... It's a joke... What Google did.. because YT videos are .mp4 and Wii U Supports that format in 1080p... Why not just let it play in very basic form of YouTube?

I hate Google even more, I moved all my accounts to Microsoft.

 

[ShadowOne333]

I think people should start messing with the web browser to make an update that allows YouTube to play... It's a joke... What Google did.. because YT videos are .mp4 and Wii U Supports that format in 1080p... Why not just let it play in very basic form of YouTube?

I hate Google even more, I moved all my accounts to Microsoft.

Yeah I'm also moving away from Google. Search engines, email, browser, pretty much everything.

Did you manage to get it working?
I would recommend doing the second method, because with the first I sometimes get the ads to load instead of the video, and the video doesn't resume after the ad or by refreshing, so I highly recommend the second method.

 

[huma_dawii]

Yeah I'm also moving away from Google. Search engines, email, browser, pretty much everything.

Did you manage to get it working?
I would recommend doing the second method, because with the first I sometimes get the ads to load instead of the video, and the video doesn't resume after the ad or by refreshing, so I highly recommend the second method.

I didn't try it, I tried playing from Bing but no luck :/

 

[ShadowOne333]

I didn't try it, I tried playing from Bing but no luck :/

Bing?
Are you like trying to play them from the search engine?
I meant something like one of those sites that convert videos and add a playback preview before that.
I use a site called ViewPure to watch them, maybe that helps.

It's unknown whether how long this will continue to work tbh.
I'm seriously thinking about getting an Android box of sorts, or flatout moving into a Smart TV.
It's a shame, as I really liked using the tablet to change what was on screen.

 

[Moon164]

This sucks... when I got stuck in a Zelda BOTW shrine and didn’t have a cell phone nearby, I would open the browser and watch a video on YouTube of that shrine, it was very practical.

Anyway, at least the YouTube app still works on Wii U (it's great for those who want to watch Youtube on TV and don't have a smart TV, which are many here in Brazil.) Just a shame that you can't open it at the same time with a game like it is on PS4 for example, but it’s not even on the Switch, it was to be expected that the Wii U would not be able to open a game and the YouTube app at the same time.

 

[NinStar]

You can simply change the user agent to Android and access YouTube through this url: https://m.youtube.com/?persist_app=1&app=m
It worked fine for me since the day they announced that they would stop supporting the Wii U browser.

by the way, wasn't there an user who modified the browser to be compatible with some sites? I can't remember if it was just stuff related to ssl certificates.

 

[huma_dawii]

You can simply change the user agent to Android and access YouTube through this url: https://m.youtube.com/?persist_app=1&app=m
It worked fine for me since the day they announced that they would stop supporting the Wii U browser.

by the way, wasn't there an user who modified the browser to be compatible with some sites? I can't remember if it was just stuff related to ssl certificates.

I'll try that option, let's hope it works!, and yeah maybe someone will modify the web browser to add compatibility! It would be a dream.

 

[Alexander1970]

I'll try that option, let's hope it works!, and yeah maybe someone will modify the web browser to add compatibility! It would be a dream.

You can request it here if you like:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/the-wii-u-homebrew-request-thread.424993/page-33

 

[ShadowOne333]

You can simply change the user agent to Android and access YouTube through this url: https://m.youtube.com/?persist_app=1&app=m
It worked fine for me since the day they announced that they would stop supporting the Wii U browser.

by the way, wasn't there an user who modified the browser to be compatible with some sites? I can't remember if it was just stuff related to ssl certificates.

I'll try that option, let's hope it works!, and yeah maybe someone will modify the web browser to add compatibility! It would be a dream.

It does work btw
I did stumble into it when I did my initial user agent tests, but forgot about it lol

I will make a tutorial for this, so I will tag you guys into it once I'm done doing it today.

 

[ShadowOne333]

@huma_dawii @alexander1970 @MarioSilva @Moon164 the tutorial is now live
https://gbatemp.net/threads/tutoria...he-wiiu-browser-after-dropped-support.568873/

Hope it helps you guys!

 

[Alexander1970]

@huma_dawii @alexander1970 @MarioSilva @Moon164 the tutorial is now live
https://gbatemp.net/threads/tutoria...he-wiiu-browser-after-dropped-support.568873/

Hope it helps you guys!

Thank you,that is a very fast and FREE Support.

 

[ShadowOne333]

Thank you,that is a very fast and FREE Support.

You're welcome

 

[huma_dawii]

Awesome thanks! Will go there now.

 

[n00bsaib0t]

This sucks... when I got stuck in a Zelda BOTW shrine and didn’t have a cell phone nearby, I would open the browser and watch a video on YouTube of that shrine, it was very practical.

Anyway, at least the YouTube app still works on Wii U (it's great for those who want to watch Youtube on TV and don't have a smart TV, which are many here in Brazil.) Just a shame that you can't open it at the same time with a game like it is on PS4 for example, but it’s not even on the Switch, it was to be expected that the Wii U would not be able to open a game and the YouTube app at the same time.

Switch got YouTube freaking forever ago, November 2018 to be exact. What are you even talking about?
https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/youtube-switch/

 

[huma_dawii]

Switch got YouTube freaking forever ago, November 2018 to be exact. What are you even talking about?
https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/youtube-switch/

Did you even read it? He said OPEN YouTube WHILE playing a game. That is definitively NOT posible on Switch.

 

[ShadowOne333]

Switch got YouTube freaking forever ago, November 2018 to be exact. What are you even talking about?
https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/youtube-switch/

What huma_wii said, the OP refers to being able to open or watch a video while still having a game suspended, which the WiiU could do through the browser.

You basically could press Home while playing a game, and you got the option to launch the browser while the game is still in hiatus. Then you could search whatever or even watch a video on the browser, with the game still on the background.

The Switch sadly only has the YouTube app, not even a proper user-usable browser due to Nintendo being such pussies afraid of webkit exploits.

 

[n00bsaib0t]

Did you even read it? He said OPEN YouTube WHILE playing a game. That is definitively NOT posible on Switch.

Yeah, I read it. Did you? You can open youtube while playing a game on PS4, but it's not even on Switch. That's what he said.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

What huma_wii said, the OP refers to being able to open or watch a video while still having a game suspended, which the WiiU could do through the browser.

You basically could press Home while playing a game, and you got the option to launch the browser while the game is still in hiatus. Then you could search whatever or even watch a video on the browser, with the game still on the background.

The Switch sadly only has the YouTube app, not even a proper user-usable browser due to Nintendo being such pussies afraid of webkit exploits.

I mean, there are entire websites like this one that claim to be against piracy yet are dedicated to teaching people how to pirate games. Knowing how Nintendo operates I'm surprised the webkit was even there at all, even if it's not normally available to the end user.

 

[Moon164]

Switch got YouTube freaking forever ago, November 2018 to be exact. What are you even talking about?
https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/youtube-switch/

Probably Google Translate translated it wrong.

What I meant is that you cannot open YouTube along with a game or any other app on the Nintendo Switch.

However, on PS4 for example, you can open YouTube without having to close your game or something, it is very practical and easy to look for any tips when you get stuck in some part of the game.

On Wii U I already expected the YouTube app to work as it did on the Nintendo Switch version, you can't open YouTube on it together with a game, however, you could open the internet browser even with the game open and search YouTube for it and do the same thing that I mentioned on PS4.

In short, on Wii U and Nintendo Switch, you can't open the YouTube app without having to close your game first, but on Wii U you could open your internet browser and go to YouTube on it without having to close your game, I I used it a lot when I was stuck in some part of my game, a pity that Youtube no longer works in the Browser.