My friends keep sharing video links from all social media, and I really don’t want to download tiktok, Instagram, Facebook,…

is there an app that will open those links and show me the video? also given that some of those apps require an account.

  • Schwim Dandy@piefed.zipEnglish
    2·
    23 hours ago

    No, I don’t think you’re going to find a solution that will satisfy your need. Google, Meta, tiktok, etc. all have the ability to gatekeep their content. Just as an example, when Youtube locks you out of viewing a video unless you are on their platform and sometimes, also logged in.

    They are as big as they are for a reason and choosing not to use them will result in truly not using them instead of using them on your terms.

    Regarding frontends like newpipe, Freetube, etc., those are all trying to get by on embed links, which are still controlled by Google and they fail at displaying a video more often than not with the never-ending changes that are made upstream.

    • 🍉 Albert 🍉@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      3·
      23 hours ago

      I’m going on a limb, but couldn’t an app pretend to be a chrome browser and only display the video part?

      an app like that would be so fucking convenient

      • smeg@feddit.ukEnglish
        4·
        23 hours ago

        You could try a dedicated web browser just for those videos? Brave is a bit dodgy but you could keep it around only for those sites.

      • Schwim Dandy@piefed.zipEnglish
        1·
        20 hours ago

        A ton of developers have tried it but not only are they failing at acting like these apps, the apps are also forcing logins more and more often for more content. So even if you faked the app, you still wouldn’t have access to that content unless you also logged in. Just like if you opened tick tock it’s going to force you to log in. If you open Facebook, it will eventually force you to log in a YouTube hides a lot of videos behind a login.

        Also, as more and more countries adopt the age verification farce, all of these apps are just going to keep getting more and more restrictive as to when they will finally show you a video.

        It really is unfortunate as I would love something like this as well because my entire family shares content fear these platforms and if I want to see it and then talk to my wife about it or whatever, I have to log in on that platform to see that content.

        • MasterBuilder@lemmy.oneEnglish
          1·
          4 hours ago

          I’m old enough to remember a time before any of this crap existed. Increasingly, I’m just going back to that. When I click a link and it says please log in, I just leave. Fuck 'em. I don’t do bait and switch.

          • Schwim Dandy@piefed.zipEnglish
            1·
            2 hours ago

            I’m with you. I hail from the days of dial-up BBS. I’ve gotten to watch online devolve from a genuine community of people that often disagreed but knew how to talk about it and could trust that a human sat on the other end.

            I’ve been stripping elements from my online life and working my way towards reclaiming some semblance of an internet that betters my life; no corporate social networks, no lowest common denominators at either extreme end and no psychologically-tuned engagement triggers.

            We will never get an honest Internet back but like you, I can reclaim my use of it on my terms.