Invidious Explained

Invidious
Invidious
Screenshot Alt:A screenshot of the website Invidious, displaying the trending page of YouTube
Author:Omar Roth
Developer:Samantaz Fox, unixfox, Matthew McGarvey[1]
Discontinued:No
Latest Release Version:v2.20240427
Repo:Mirror from GitHub:, GitHub:
Programming Language:Crystal, HTML, JavaScript
Genre:Frontend
License:AGPLv3

Invidious is a free and open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.[2] [3] It is available as a Docker container,[4] or from the GitHub master branch.[5] It is intended to be used as a lightweight and "privacy-respecting" alternative to the official YouTube website. Many privacy preserving redirecting software as well as YouTube clients use Invidious instances.[6] [7] [8] [9]

Invidious does not use the official YouTube API but scrapes the website for video and metadata such as likes and views.[10] This is done intentionally to decrease the amount of data shared with Google. The web-scraping tool is called the Invidious Developer API. It is also partially used in the free and open-source app, Yattee.

History

In 2020, Omar Roth stated that he would be stepping down from the project and shutting down the main instance at invidio.us.[11] However, the project still continues and unofficial instances of the service still exist.[12]

In June 2023, Invidious received a take-down order from YouTube.[13] [14] The cease and desist notice followed recent "experiments" by YouTube of blocking non-premium users who use an ad-blocking web browser.[15] [16] The Invidious developers decided to ignore the letter as they did not use the YouTube API.[17] Jules Roscoe of Vice.com stated YouTube was not alone in "cracking down", and noted new developer fees at Reddit are causing third-party developers to shut down.[18] According to Der Spiegel, "Invidious is installed on servers, which then act as unlicensed YouTube mirrors" to allow users to watch videos "free of advertising and tracking." Invidious was targeted by Google due to them having struggled for years to block downloading and uncontrolled access to videos and music.[19]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Team . 2024-01-21 . Invidious.io.
  2. Web site: 2021-08-28. 5 Apps to Protect Your Privacy on YouTube and Stop Google From Tracking You. 2021-11-10. MUO. en-US.
  3. Web site: How to Watch Flagged YouTube Videos Without Logging In. Andy. Betts. November 14, 2019. MUO.
  4. Web site: Installation - Invidious Documentation . 2022-08-24 . docs.invidious.io.
  5. Web site: Installation - Invidious Documentation . 2022-08-24 . docs.invidious.io.
  6. Web site: 2022-11-22 . Improve Your Safari Browsing Experience With These Automatic Redirects . 2023-06-03 . Lifehacker . en.
  7. Web site: 2023-05-07 . The 8 Best Media Players for the Steam Deck . 2023-06-03 . MUO . en.
  8. Web site: 2022-11-23 . How to Watch YouTube Videos in the Linux Terminal With ytfzf . 2023-06-03 . MUO . en.
  9. Web site: Kocher . Laveesh . 2022-12-01 . FreeTube, An Open Source Private YouTube Client . 2023-06-03 . en-US.
  10. Web site: Release Week 1: Invidious API and Geo-Bypass ยท iv-org/invidious . 2022-08-24 . GitHub . en.
  11. Web site: Omar Roth . 2022-08-24 . omar.yt.
  12. Web site: Invidious Instances . 2022-08-24 . api.invidious.io.
  13. Web site: June 10, 2023 . YouTube legal team asked Invidious developers to take down the service within 7 days . June 10, 2023 . AlternativeTo.net.
  14. Web site: Rossmann . Louis . Louis Rossmann . 9 June 2023 . Youtube's war on adblockers continues, sends cease & desist to invidious.io - you know what to do . 11 June 2023 . YouTube.
  15. Web site: Dallas . Thomas . YouTube has started blocking ad blockers . Android Police . 10 May 2023 . 11 June 2023.
  16. Web site: Cesar . Cadenas . YouTube is attempting to block your ad-blocker in new experiment . TechRadar . 11 May 2023 . 11 June 2023.
  17. Web site: YouTube Orders 'Invidious' Privacy Software to Shut Down in 7 Days * TorrentFreak . 2023-08-06 . en.
  18. Web site: Roscoe . Jules . 2023-06-15 . YouTube Tells Open-Source Privacy Software 'Invidious' to Shut Down . 2023-06-16 . Vice . en.
  19. News: 2023-06-16 . Google will werbefreie YouTube-Alternative Invidious stoppen . Google wants to legally stop ad-free YouTube alternative . live . https://archive.today/20230819054348/https://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/netzpolitik/google-will-werbefreie-youtube-alternative-invidious-stoppen-a-9db95e2d-1949-4b26-96f7-8f8b73c7b35a . 19 August 2023 . 2023-06-19 . Der Spiegel . de . 2195-1349.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Invidious".

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