Using Proton VPN with YouTube now gives me this.
Using Proton VPN with YouTube now gives me this.

Using Proton VPN with YouTube now gives me this.

The "best content":
Geeeez looking back at this hurts so much in so many ways
For me it's almost the same, but the text on the thumbnail are in Hungarian, one is a clip channel of a crappy Hungarian Twitch streamer, and one is one of those channels that plagiarize content via translation and got his fame by plagiarizing an English video accusing all furries with zoophilia.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
The standing banana is for shock value...
Here are some options for Android as well.
They only work half the time though.
“This will allow YouTube to locate the best content.”
It’s the blatant bald-faced lying that really gets me. They’re openly broadcasting how little respect they have for you, that they think you’ll swallow that as a valid reason not to function.
It’s as if some manager at Google deep down knows he’s a piece of shit who belongs in a gulag, and is subconsciously trying to bring it about.
This will allow YouTube to locate the best content.
But that you do that is the reason to use a VPN/proxy.
“This will allow YouTube to locate the best content.”
Ads are technically content, I suppose.
Change the VPN server/location.
That's why VPNs give you hundreds of options. You should be changing your VPN location anyway based on the pseudo-profile you want. VPNs aren't magic, they're just tools.
Other options include:
Searching for the video with DDG or Startpage and playing the video via their search
Using an Invidious frontend
I have this set up on my router. My wifi is blanket tunneled through a VPN. For annoying sites that restrict access like reddit, my router routes through a specific VPN server that doesn't (yet) get blocked (I don't post/comment/browse, but occasionally find a post that answers a question). That way it works on my whole home network, regardless of device.
Same could be done for YouTube presumably, but maybe a little more complicated (reddit seems to work with a single /32 address).
Plus, it's fun to set up---MikroTik router, Mullvad, and an ARM SBC doing the VPN duties for me, but myriad ways to get it working for other configurations.
For reading reddit you can just use a redlib frontend and never get blocked. When I get the "woah there, pardner!" I just take the URL from the /r/ onward and paste it after a frontend URL. Takes 2 seconds.
Also, setting up a router level VPN is just an OpenWRT config on plenty of routers. Depends on your firmware how many servers you can have listed to bounce between. Otherwise just bounce more per device.
I'm doing a crude version of this with a Flint 2 router and Mullvad. Don't enjoy fiddling with my network (and upstream is unreliable for now, making troubleshooting an irritating game of crossing off doubts each time I have issues, rather than learning things better).
At the moment I just have a guest Wifi that doesn't get VPN'ed for things like Roku devices and such (slowly migrating the home away from stuff like this).
I appreciate the always-on "blanket" traffic tunneling, a lot. But I'd like a more flexible setup - things like allowing access to Jellyfin from guest Wifi (or similar), site-specific exclusions or other workarounds for when I need to reach a banking site that has predictable VPN complaints, etc.
Not a fan of just playing house-wide VPN exit whack-a-mole each time myself or someone else experiences an issue, but maybe that's part of the game.
Know of any good starting points for the flexibility I'm describing? Probably just need to learn LuCI and firewall and VLAN principles?
There’s such an easier fix: just stop using a service that has zero respect for you.
I assume you mean YT here, and not the VPN?
I'm on proton vpn and it works fine for me. I'm using YouTube through Firefox though, not the app, because fuck the app
Exactly the Same. But that's how I got this message.
No issues here yet. Proton vpn with brave. Both have been good about finding the work around and updating so far for me. Hit a wall, but by the next day they fix it. It's a continuous battle to be sure, but no long term issues for me so far.
The very, very best content. Content so beautiful it makes you go "hmmm, what beautiful content". Can't serve no wonderful content with that nasty VPN on, no sir.
YouTube has been trying to block VPNs for months now. Especially one that offers a free one like Proton. Just switch your VPN server till one works. They're always playing tag.
"Tag"? I think you mean Whac-a-Mole...
If you turn VPN off, you lose.
Exactly!!!
Enshittification proceeding nicely. I use Freetube on the desktop and Newpipe on my Android phone. I have ExpressVPN on my router.
I browse with invidious and just download whatever videos I want to watch with yt-dlp
Utter BS on their part. Time to go read books!
I am also on Proton VPN. 2 days ago Google search wouldn't allow me to search at all because it couldn't confirm my age.
I switched to a different server and it worked, but that shouldn't have made a difference, since I was sigbed into the same google account.
Strangely enough, this happened about 30 ish hours after I started self hosting my own searxng.
Was the different server in another state?
Sites will block content or require age verification by state, so if you're connected to a VPN server located in one of those states you'll see stuff like that.
The server I am connected to was in Canada. Its the same server I almost always connect to. If I am not connected to that one, I am connected to one in my home state for speed. My state does not require age verification to ask google what Showtime's the nearest movie theater has.
The only time I had this issue, I jus used ytdl-p to bypass while still keeping my VPN up. The video was not really worth it, but at least I could watch it.
Which country gave you this prompt?
I'm trying to say give up YT, not worth it anymore.
Canada
That's absolute bullshit youtube, they don't need any locational stuff, other than to sell to advertisers.
.>:(
Freetube probably
Host Invidious locally...
On my smartphone?
You probably can with Termux lol
I don't use proprietary, known evil services which require me to authenticate.
Can proton spin up new vpns? How does yt find out?
Lots of connections from one IP
oh wow...
Is it wrong or accurate to think that after the word "locate" was used I was immediately thinking of "locate your location." 😂
Its strange that they use the word "locate" than "select" or something along those lines.
Frustrating as hell for sure, did you try switching severs?
Yeah i did
I pretty much only use YouTube to look up specific clips of things (eg: simpsons clips, bits from movies), the very occasional video game "how do I do this specific thing?", and specific songs i don't have a copy of. I never watch any of its original content. I'm sure some of it is fine, but sturgeon's law says most of it is crap, and there's so much non-crap already on my radar to read/watch/listen to.
So fuck youtube.
There's a couple of channels that I really enjoy on there.
Yeah, fuck YouTube as a platform, but to dismiss the entire content seems a bit whack. But I guess if they're already happy with whatever it is that they're watching, it's OK, I guess.
lol…. YouTube will never be okay with VPNs. Yet everyone thinks they’re clever trying to work around it with this shit- while never really accepting that you’re supporting a service that treats its users and content creators like they’re complete and total idiots.
STOP USING YOUTUBE.
problem solved.
I intend on continuing to use it as long as I can with my adblockers, noscript extensions, pinhole and so forth in place. I will keep up the game as long as it can be played, and when I lose, I’ll walk away.
I cannot tolerate the enshittification cycle. I’m happy to pay for services, I’m not happy being frogboiled into having to pay for them.
Enjoy contributing to the problem!
Until there's an alternative, I'm affraid I can't.
can’t won’t.
No, I don't think I will.
Cool! Have fun obnoxiously complaining about it to the eco chamber of fellow Stockholm syndrome sufferers.