Google could kill YouTube Vanced for good::The company is exploring an integrity API that could lock down WebViews with DRM

Can someone confirm whether YouTube ReVanced really uses WebView?

@db2@sopuli.xyz
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101Y

It’s the official app apk with some mods. So probably not.

In that case the premise of the entire article is wrong then.

deweydecibel
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21Y

Google can redesign the official app and kill functionality to the previous version.

@takeda@lemmy.world
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41Y

I don’t think it matters. ReVanced patches original YouTube so it will use whatever YouTube is using. Even if current YouTube app doesn’t use WebView that’s nothing stopping them from adding it in the future.

If I’m reading article right, Google supposedly “discontinued” the attestation technology in Chrome, because of the shit storm, but looks like they are thinking of adding it to Android and use it to verify the devices and applications are genuine. The YouTube server for example might refuse to serve the video if the application is not genuine.

If they are testing application genuinity im more concerned they might break all the google services hacks etc used by graphene os.

NumG
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11Y

I don’t understand why YouTube doesn’t use the stupid blob video format (I don’t know the technical details, maybe it’s about drm protection) already. It almost makes it impossible to view a video in something other than the player it came with and I don’t like that.

@PeachMan@lemmy.world
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-91Y

The amount of copium I see in these comments is staggering. Google owns the Youtube app, they own the Youtube servers, they even own the damn operating system you’re running it on, and they’re one of the richest companies in history. Do you REALLY think they couldn’t shut down ReVanced if they wanted to? Are you really that naive?

The moment they decide to put even a small amount of effort towards shutting down ReVanced or the others, they’re as good as dead.

JohnEdwa
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8
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1Y

Technically they could, but the effort and checks required to do so would be massive and very disruptive to android in general. They tried something kinda like it with SafetyNet, and it’s so trivial to bypass it’s being phased out.
Turns out root detection is kinda easy to circumvent if you have, you know, root access.

@bassomitron@lemmy.world
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They’ve already tried to kill it like a year or two ago with their last major API changes. This is just another attempt at it.

Google may be wealthy, they may be in control. However, they’re still limited by how the technology fundamentally works. You can only secure something so much before you inadvertently damage your own product’s functionality by restricting its access too aggressively.

Another thing to remember, YouTube is used by literal billions of people across the entire planet from virtually every notable OS capable of doing so. Locking it down so that only one type of app and web browser can access it would cause them to lose millions of eyeballs and ears, i.e. hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue over time. It’d have the exact opposite effect of what they’re trying to do (increase ad profits).

deleted by creator

@db2@sopuli.xyz
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151Y

This is just the mini version of what they tried to do in Chrome. Since you don’t have to use the built in webview it’s meaningless.

deweydecibel
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21Y

Apps can easily be redesigned with some kind of webview integration, and some apps already do have random things that bring up webview, and thia would kill them on a rooted device.

The inherent issue here is they’re arguing this will help prevent fraud, but they’re not looking for fraud. They’re looking for an altered device and assuming fraud.

@db2@sopuli.xyz
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71Y

I nuked a food app recently because instead of opening so I could give them money in exchange for food they decided to police my phone for PCAPdroid by way of refusing to run beyond showing a message stating that I can’t have PCAPdroid installed and closing after a 5 second timeout.

Fuck you, Papa Murphy’s. What’s your app doing that you’re afraid I’ll be able to see? You’re blacklisted for life now.

@db2@sopuli.xyz
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11Y

What I meant though was you aren’t necessarily stuck using Google’s webview, though they make it non-trivial to jailbreak from theirs.

https://github.com/bromite/bromite/wiki/Installing-SystemWebView

No matter what, people will always find a way to mod the apps they really want to have free.

I wouldn’t be so sure. If you hang around for 10 years I would love to have a conversation after that length of time and see if you agree with yourself here

@Corngood@lemmy.ml
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61Y

There’s definitely a danger if attestation becomes widespread enough that they can require it.

Not a danger of being unable to mod the apps, but they will be able to restrict access to their servers to the official unmodified app, when it’s running on specific trusted operating systems.

@Corngood@lemmy.ml
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61Y

Surely as long as there’s a way to access YouTube on devices without attestation, this won’t kill anything.

@alvvayson@lemmy.world
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deleted by creator

Wow, this article is just like 100% wrong. I’m surprised no one has mentioned this yet.

To get why this could be a problem for YouTube Vanced’s successors, we need to understand how they work. Rather than modding the YouTube app itself, Vanced apps are essentially tweaked and modded browsers that display videos via a WebView that shows YouTube, adding extra features to the experience like adblock and other YouTube Premium perks. If YouTube was able to check which apps or devices are trying to access its servers before displaying content, this would be an easy route to stop Vanced successors from working.

The YouTube-app, and Revanced in turn, does not utilize a WebView to display video. They are most certainly not ‘modded browsers’.

Seriously, who wrote this shit? An AI? It’s baffling.

@FrostKing@lemmy.world
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121Y

I’m surprised no one had mentioned this yet

It’s because there’s an annoying trend of everyone reading the headline and not the article. Drives me bonkers

Headline: “THING IS HAPPENING”

Body: “Here’s 1000 words unrelated to the headline. Here’s some ads. Here’s interviews with three people saying nothing of interest. Here’s the thing you clicked under the headline for and it adds a bit of nuance to the headline along with a bunch of waffling and uncertainty. Here’s a pointless anecdote. More ads! Here’s a recipe for chicken wings and a bunch of pictures of celebrities. Oops! Article ended a full screen ago. Nothing down here but clickbait and more ads.”

Gee, I wonder why people just take the headline at face value.

@Not_Alec_Baldwin@lemmy.world
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0
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1Y

There’s no place like home Reddit.

There’s no place like home Reddit.

There’s no place like home Reddit.

@rdri@lemmy.world
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Manuel Vonau • Senior Google Editor

(2251 Articles Published)

@Marruk@lemmy.world
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1Y

Manuel Vonau

From his bio on that site (https://www.androidpolice.com/author/manuel-vonau/):

Manuel studied Media and Culture studies in Düsseldorf, finishing his university career with a master’s thesis titled “The Aesthetics of Tech YouTube Channels: Production of Proximity and Authenticity.” His background gives him a unique perspective on the ever-evolving world of technology and its implications on society. He isn’t shy to dig into technical backgrounds and the nitty-gritty developer details, either.

So he’s a marketing guy with possibly zero tech background beyond watching YouTube videos, who isn’t afraid to discuss “nitty-gritty developer details” despite apparently not actually understanding them.

ElPussyKangaroo
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241Y

Given that Revanced patches the YouTube app, Monsieur Vonau is most certainly wrong.

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