YSK: a few ways to watch YouTube videos without using youtube.com

Invidious: an alternative front-end that is open-source and privacy-respecting. Here are a list of open instances. If you are reasonably familiar with docker/self-hosting you can also host it yourself, but be aware it's somewhat resource- and maintenance-heavy.
yt-dlp: this is a nice command-line program that allows you to download YouTube videos by link; also works with Peertube links. For Windows/Mac users apparently the program is available as well, but please follow their instructions. If you also have mpv installed, you can call mpv <http://youtube.link> to directly stream a video.
NewPipe: this app on F-droid.org allows you to watch YouTube videos (and Soundcloud/Bandcamp but somewhat glitchy) with an experience very much akin to the YouTube app itself.

Please feel free to share other alternatives.

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Desktop : Freetube

Android : Revanced
- Revanced is sometimes only available for rooted phones!
  
  I have an unrooted phone and I'm using revanced
  
  Considering you have to patch yourself the app with their tool and the tool doesn't need root access, I've never had this problem.
There is also Piped, which is like Invidious. On Android you can use LibreTube which uses Piped as its backend, so you never connect directly to YouTube.
I'm using SmartTube on my TvBox and live in fear it will stop working xD

There's also a component for foobar2000 (yes, I'm GenX) called Youtube Source. You can search content, add results to foobar playlists and see the video (embedded in the skin or on a different window). Sometimes the video doesn't load but restarting foobar it's usually enough.
poketube freetube invuedious

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