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yuliskov / SmartTubeLegacy

Watch YouTube videos on your TV and set-top-box with comfort
Mozilla Public License 2.0
4.42k stars 598 forks source link

Project Split #682

Open MrVerm opened 3 years ago

MrVerm commented 3 years ago

Dear devs,

Why is the SmartYouTubeTV project now split in the “Lite” SmartYouTubeTV and the “Pro” SmartTubeNext project?

The way this was communicated to users is also not the prettiest. The only mention is the easy to miss splash screen on the latest version.

A lot of people used the Pro version and are now forced to abandon SmartYouTubeTV for SmartTubeNext. A completely different project, with a different UI, which also is in its infancy compared to SmartYouTubeTV.

SmartYouTubeTV was the best Youtube app. Why not keep “Pro” in SmartYouTubeTV? I can see a lot of people abandoning SmartYouTubeTV, while not onboarding SmartTubeNext, which is a real shame.

Maeldor commented 3 years ago

Completely agree. Unfortunately it looks like yuliskov has abandoned this in favour of SmartTubeNext. Instead of spending some time to fix the Pro version, he has just removed it instead. Without the Pro version, other than blocking ads, SmartYouTubeTV has become pretty useless to me.

While I admire yuliskov's efforts on SmartTubeNext – which I am sure will make maintenance and customisation easier for him as updates by Google won't keep breaking the UI – it is nowhere near in a position to replace SmartYouTubeTV. I wish efforts were made to keep SmartYouTubeTV working. I rely heavily on the Pro version for hardware accelerated playback and the ability to adjust the playback speed. The Lite version is just awful in comparison and won't even play back videos smoothly for me.

I'll try and stick with version 724 as long as possible. While it's buggy, at least Pro actually works, and problems with watch history can be worked around by ensuring the video completely finishes before closing it.

I would look into possibly fixing this myself, but unfortunately I have no experience with Java/Android development, and my first efforts to even get this project to build have been difficult as various referenced classes such as ExceptionBootstrapActivity, AppStateWatcher, and others just seem to be completely missing. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong, but I've had to hunt these files down in previous commits to even get it to build. I'm not hopeful of getting this working 😥

therealsamsquanch commented 3 years ago

Have you guys tried SmartTubeNext? It has a faster and smoother navigation and still offers most of the features of SmartYouTubeTV – yes, it does have the option to adjust the playback speed. Playback options are right there in the repo's screenshots:

image

I was able to sign in and change the video resolution/codec/fps. I changed the audio codec/bitrate and there are more options that I didn't try. I browsed around and I'm watching a live video, so far haven't found any issues. Tested on Mi Box S, Android 9.

It is in its infancy as stated, but it has hundreds of commits and appears to be good for daily use. I'm grateful that yuliskov decided to try a new approach instead of abandoning the idea of a better YouTube experience.

MrVerm commented 3 years ago

Yes, read my original post.

It works but it’s in its infancy compared to SmartYoutubeTV and the UI is worse. Try and find the latest updates from a channel you’ve subscribed to.

If you are a SmartYouTubeTV Pro user it is not a replacement.

DiscoFever78 commented 3 years ago

Hi, I love SmartYoutubeTV, and last week I downloaded the new SmartTubeNext app, however I must say, the AutoPlay Thumbnail Previews are quite distracting while browsing the video selection in this new app (SmartTubeNext), unfortunately. Is there any way to disable this by any chance? Please advise.

Maeldor commented 3 years ago

I gave SmartTubeNext another go today and, I'll admit, it does look promising. It's very smooth and clean, but its UI needs a bit more refinement and it's missing a few crucial features before I'd switch to it. A few immediately apparent to me:

  1. No individual channels in subscriptions
  2. No watched indication (red progress bar below each video showing how much you've watched)
  3. No resume of partially viewed videos – particularly useful on very long videos
  4. No way of setting target resolution and framerate – currently have to change each video to its max (though this sort of saves? is it per res?).

I see issues for some of these points already on that repo, so I may contribute there. Hell, I may even look into learning some Java/Android dev and see if I can contribute anything in my spare time, if yuliskov accepts such contributions.

I really appreciate yuliskov's efforts so far though!

Apparently 6.17.728 fixes things, but I have no clue what, as unfortunately there's no source code to accompany it. Not sure what happened there. I'll stick with 724 for now to be safe until there's some clarification as I don't want to lose Pro Main. @yuliskov could you push the commits please?

jdom commented 3 years ago

i came to the github issues to see what happened to the Pro version and while doing that, it popped up that there was a new version. Installed .728 and see that Pro is back. I hope it doesn't go away, at least until people seem to be satisfied with the SmartTubeNext, which I'm just finding about, and will give it a shot at some point.

foreveryoungforty commented 3 years ago

To everyone : install SYTV 6.17.728 https://github.com/yuliskov/SmartYouTubeTV/releases/

therealsamsquanch commented 3 years ago

Yes, read my original post.

It works but it’s in its infancy compared to SmartYoutubeTV and the UI is worse. Try and find the latest updates from a channel you’ve subscribed to.

If you are a SmartYouTubeTV Pro user it is not a replacement.

You're always free to push the necessary commits to keep this project active, @MrVerm, it is an open source project after all. The new app is also an open source project, by the way. Projects like this need feature requests, detailed bug reports and most of all, contributors pushing commits. Complaining without offering solutions is not helpful. yuliskov pushed nearly all commits on both repos, I'm honestly surprised that he didn't just drop it, but instead created a brand new native version. He released a new version on this repo, if it fixes your issues, remember to thank him and perhaps donate – links are on this repo main page.

I didn't notice the lack of resume on videos until you mentioned, @Maeldor. It is a great feature that I hope will be available in the future, even if it only saves locally. Your point number 4 appears to work the way you stated. It's not user friendly, but it will do for now. Overall I think it's a very promising project. People often feel entitled to fixes and updates, so I'm glad you understand how open source projects work and salute your enthusiasm on giving back.

MrVerm commented 3 years ago

Yes, read my original post. It works but it’s in its infancy compared to SmartYoutubeTV and the UI is worse. Try and find the latest updates from a channel you’ve subscribed to. If you are a SmartYouTubeTV Pro user it is not a replacement.

You're always free to push the necessary commits to keep this project active, @MrVerm, it is an open source project after all. The new app is also an open source project, by the way. Projects like this need feature requests, detailed bug reports and most of all, contributors pushing commits. Complaining without offering solutions is not helpful. yuliskov pushed nearly all commits on both repos, I'm honestly surprised that he didn't just drop it, but instead created a brand new native version. He released a new version on this repo, if it fixes your issues, remember to thank him and perhaps donate – links are on this repo main page.

My complaint was that a complete project split/feature drop should be communicated well and clear to users. Preferably on the main project page. It wasn’t. I also offered a solution, communicate clearly. I have tried building a version on my own to be able contribute and learn but had similar issues as @Maeldor

As @foreveryoungforty and @jdom mentioned “Pro” has returned again in 728. Strange, if 726 mentioned “Pro” being dropped permanently and moved to a different project. What is it now? Is “Pro” gone from SmartYouTube TV or isn’t it? Will a next version drop it again? Apparently only time will tell.

Open source is great but only when new features, feature drops and project splits are communicated well and clear to everyone involved. @therealsamsquanch exactly like you state regarding bug reports. It just wasn’t. A splash screen that pops up once on boot is not enough.

All I am saying is that communication is key and on this project it could be done better, for example with the solution I also stated.

Seeing the likes on my original posts I’m not the only one with that opinion.

foreveryoungforty commented 3 years ago

Pro is working in 728

moosedookie commented 3 years ago

728 seems to have everything working correctly in regards to the pro version. After opening 728 and going to settings and then about it appears that it has been reverted to an older version of YouTube itself. I'm assuming that so much of the code base has changed in the newer version of YouTube that the changes made by SmartYouTubeTV no longer work.