Homebrew Homebrew app [Release] ThirdTube - A homebrew YouTube client for the new 3DS.

ChameleonSkin

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This is fantastic! I'll second the request to bring back the 3D viewing functionality from the old YouTube app - this was the main thing I used it for. Looks like Google changed something about the way videos were flagged that made it harder to detect what type of display was being used; they defaulted to assuming it was a 3DTV, which is ironic since there are barely any of those still around but a whole pile of people with old 3DS hardware.

For the program author: not sure how much use this may be, but if you are interested in adding that feature back in then this article may be of use:

https://www.tridimensional.info/2019/05/how-to-properly-watch-3d-youtube-videos/
 
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windows_server_2003

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Version 0.2.0 has been released !

Download : https://github.com/windows-server-2003/ThirdTube/releases/tag/v0.2.0
  • Added the ability to show comment replies
  • Added support for long comments and comment folding function
  • Added support for subtitles
  • Added duration text overlaid on the thumbnail in the search page
  • Added full screen mode (configurable in settings menu)
  • Fixed a bug where channel pages would not load more videos
  • Removed FPS indicator at the top left. It was removed because it does not show the FPS of the video but the FPS of rendering and caused confusion.
 

windows_server_2003

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Can you login in with one or two Google accounts, yet?

If not, will said plan ever be implemented?
Unfortunately, I have no plan to implement the login feature. The main reason for this is to avoid penalties on the account you are logging in.
As the app violates the ToS, there is a risk of account ban or other penalties. I've even heard that the legit version of YouTube(either web or app) secretly makes specific requests, and if you access without that signal your account will get terminated.

Accordingly, there won't be features like comment posting or liking or disliking videos.
 

x149te

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I logged in on browser (on 3ds and vita) and watching subscribed channels. Interesting moment - in 3DS browser videos on youtube marks as "watched" with time stamp, but in Vita browser not (this is troublesome when watching "Reccomended", because I seeing all same videos time after time).
It's sad that you will not do this functionality, but maybe "popular" button? It's avaliable in browsers without login.
Anyway, really good app. It still crashes after 2-3 videos for me, but speed and quality very good. Also it consumes less battery life than browser
 

AleronIves

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This is a great addition to the 3DS homebrew scene. Thanks for helping us avoid the clunky web browser. YT loads so much faster this way!

Is it possible to support the video crop and playback speed options of the web browser? Hopefully cropping the video to fill the 400x240 resolution doesn't require too much CPU power. The playback speed option on the web browser doesn't have pitch correction for the audio, so if you could manage that, it would be another significant benefit over the browser, IMHO. :)
 
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Zeninari

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Introduction
Finishing the International Olympiad in Informatics 2021, which was the last IOI for me as a competitor, I suddenly felt like coming back to where I started programming four years ago.
I hope it's not too late to bring an alternative to the now-dead official YouTube app for 3DS to the scene.
I would like to thank @Core_2_Extreme for putting immeasurable effort on https://github.com/Core-2-Extreme/Video_player_for_3DS/ and providing the code of it which is indispensable for developing this app.
Concept
Inspired by NewPipe(https://newpipe.net/), I implemented the parser of YouTube webpages to extract the important information (metadata, stream urls, comments, etc...).
The advantage of this web-scraping is the speed; compared to the New 3DS browser, the only way to watch YouTube on the 3DS now, this app is faster because it does not fully parse HTMLs or run javascripts. It does not even load css and some javascripts that are not related to the information we want to gain.
By combining this parser with the fast decoder by Core_2_Extreme, we can have a better YouTube client on the 3DS.
Apology
I usually care (sometimes excessively) about the support of older devices/OSes, but this time I decided not to support Old 3DSes.
They have lower CPU frequency than new 3DSes and, most importantly, lack the hardware decoding capability, resulting in failure to stably achieve 30 FPS in playing 144p videos, which is the lowest resolution available on YouTube.
When the video fails to maintain the supposed FPS and falls out of real time, the audio starts cutting out, which I felt annoying enough to deny the idea of "better than nothing".
Features
Currently only the very basic functions are implemented.
Screenshots
0.png
1.png

3.png
2.png


Downloads
The app is available in .cia and .3dsx. For both formats, it is required that you have Luma3DS installed (preferably the latest one).
Binary : https://github.com/windows-server-2003/ThirdTube/releases
Source code : https://github.com/windows-server-2003/ThirdTube

Credits
In the process of developing this app, I used and referred to various code written by other people.
Credits go to :
Conclusion
In this kind of threads, there are always people who ask "What's the point" or say "It's way better on mobile phones". To be honest, I'm skeptical if this app could be practically useful. Maybe it's needed for chlidren who have their phones controlled tightly by their parents but have freedom on 3DSes but...
Well, homebrews need not be based on practical needs. If you love to tweak ridiculously old gadgets just because they are ridiculously old, you are probably one of us who enjoy this project.
I hope you can feel the excitement of doing usual things on weird devices.

Thanks So Much For This! I Was Disapointed When Youtube Was Discontinued But This App Brings It Back Better Than Ever! Nice Work, And Trust Me I Know There Is Still So Many People Playing On Their 3ds. Its Not So Dead As You Think :)

Oh And Keep Up The Updates When You Can, As This App In Its Current State Is Amazingly Enough For Me And Many Others. So Good Luck From Me And My 3ds Freinds! :D
 
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CrashMidnick

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AleronIves

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I suspect many O3DS owners would use an audio only option. There are a lot of podcasts on YouTube where the video isn't really important, and at least you could use your O3DS to listen to them. YouTube provides both Opus and AAC audio only streams that you could use, so you don't have to download the 360p video and demux the audio manually.

Maybe you can add an option so if you plug in headphones and close the 3DS, it will keep playing the audio instead of entering sleep mode? That would probably increase battery life a lot for listening to podcasts. N3DS owners would benefit from that, too.
 
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Zeninari

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By the way, a new release is out!
Download : https://github.com/windows-server-2003/ThirdTube/releases/tag/v0.3.0
The changelog is long this time, so I do not write it all down here. The main new features are watch history, local subscription and playlist support.
Btw I Have A Question, Will You Update The Resolution To 480p At Some Point? Or Do You Think The New 3ds's Cant Handle That Resolution Yet?

I Know That A 3ds Screen Actually Outputs A Resolution Close To 480p So Thats Why Im Asking. Oh And Good Job With What We Have So Far! This Application Is Coming Along Nicely! Keep Up The Good Work!
 

AleronIves

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Btw I Have A Question, Will You Update The Resolution To 480p At Some Point? Or Do You Think The New 3ds's Cant Handle That Resolution Yet
Using 480p would currently require software decoding, which would reduce battery life compared to using 360p with hardware decoding. The 3DS screen is 800x240, so there isn't a huge quality difference between 640x360 and 854x480.
 

JoelSonamShah

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I can make sound-only YouTube for old 3DS but I don't know how many people want that...
It will be very useful to listen to music cause there is no internet audio streaming technique (that i know of) and downloading from a pc and transferring the music to the 3ds is painful even with ftpd. having an audio only youtube for the old 3ds will be quite convenient for listening to music. it can also be re-skinned as youtube music which can also be used in new 3ds for data saving too. for music its alright even if it just displays a picture of the thumbnail.
 
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CrashMidnick

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It will be very useful to listen to music cause there is no internet audio streaming technique (that i know of) and downloading from a pc and transferring the music to the 3ds is painful even with ftpd. having an audio only youtube for the old 3ds will be quite convenient for listening to music. it can also be re-skinned as youtube music which can also be used in new 3ds for data saving too. for music its alright even if it just displays a picture of the thumbnail.
Yes it could be nice for O3DS ! Better than nothing :)
 
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Zeninari

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Using 480p would currently require software decoding, which would reduce battery life compared to using 360p with hardware decoding. The 3DS screen is 800x240, so there isn't a huge quality difference between 640x360 and 854x480.
Sorry For The Late Reply, But I Do Agree With You. Also I Stated "If It Can Handle It"

Basicly I Knew That It Was Basicly Impossible Under Current Conditions, But If He Somehow Does It

I Want The Developer To HOLD MY TEA

That Would Be Insane. And Still Good Work So Far, I Use The Software Quite Often xD
 

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