When FreeTube is blocked use ytfzf

Author:       -fab- <fab@redterminal.org>
License:      CC BY-SA 4.0
Published on: Tue, 25 Feb 2025 04:53:12 +0100
Last updated: Tue, 25 Feb 2025 04:53:12 +0100

I used to use FreeTube to have an ad free YouTube experience while following all my subscriptions. But it seems my IP address gets blocked after a while for use with FreeTube. My solution: 'ytfzf'.

ytfzf on Github (www)

Use ytfzf instead of FreeTube for your YouTube subscriptions

ytfzf seems to work even when my IP is blocked for use with FreeTube. So I completely switched to it and have no problems anymore. But be aware that ytfzf is not under active development anymore. The FINAL release of it was made in January of 2024. But it should still work in the foreseeable future.

ytfzf is a terminal application and therefore has a little of a learning curve. It also has some dependencies:

• ytfzf - The main program
• fzf - used for fuzzy searching
• ueberzug - Used for displaying thumbnails in the terminal (maybe ueberzugpp will also do, not sure)
• yt-dlp - YouTube downloader for the terminal
• mpv - Videoplayer to use with ytfzf

Export your FreeTube subscriptions to ytfzf

At first you have to export your subscriptions from FreeTube. There is a function for that in the preferences. Make sure you take the csv version of the YouTube links. The filename will be something like 'youtube-subscriptions-2025-02-25.csv'.

Then you have to delete the first line of the file:

sed -i '1d' youtube-subscription-2025-02-25.csv

Then you extract the channel links with awk and place the file in the ytfzf configuration dir:

awk -F, '{print $2}' youtube-subscription-2025-02-25.csv > subscriptions

mv subscriptions ~/.config/ytfzf/

Create ytfzf conf.sh file

Then you need to put a conf.sh file in your ~/.config/ytfzf/ directory:

# My  sample config below:

#Variables {{{
show_thumbnails=1
# This instance should still work by the time of writing this
invidious_instance=https://yt.artemislena.eu
ytdl_path=yt-dlp
YTFZF_PREF="22"
enable_hist=1
is_loop=1

# mpv
is_detach=0
is_fullscreen=0
#}}}

Then ytfzf is already usable. But there are some things to make your life easier.

Define some aliases

You should also define some aliases in your .bashrc, .zshrc or whatever shell you're using:

### ytfzf aliases ###
# to browse subscriptions 
alias yt-subs="ytfzf --ytdl-pref='22/bestvideo+bestaudio/best' -c SI --sort"
# to search for something (add search string after command)
alias yt="ytfzf --ytdl-pref='22/bestvideo+bestaudio/best' --type=all"
# To search Odysee (LBRY) (add search string after command)
alias ody="ytfzf -cO"

This should give you the commands 'yt' 'yt-subs' and 'ody'. I've made the experience, when the resolution of the video is higher than 1080p then it stutters. So you should press 'ALT-f' to choose the resolution of the video to play. There are several keyboard shortcuts you can read about in the man page.

Final words

Now you should have a fully working ytfzf terminal YouTube browser and can get rid of FreeTube with IP blocking. And of course *AD FREE*!

I couldn't get the history function working properly and the download of the metadata and thumbnails always stalls. If you have a solution to this problem, please tell me. I would really appreciate that.

Otherwise I think 'ytfzf' is a good and after all working alternative to FreeTube. Maybe you'll have some problems getting used to it if you're not used to the command line and TUI applications at first. But you really should try.

All in all - Have fun!

-fab-

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