It can be a bit buggy at times, but when it comes to just playing music with the screen locked, it’s perfect.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/video-background-play-fix/
Edit: I forgot to also mention that ad blocker extensions make sailing the seas on mobile much more manageable. Extentions, in general, have been a really nice addition.
Just get YouTube Revanced?
This works again?
It’s been working for as long as I have had it. Sometimes if it stops working, you have to create a new patched app with Revanced manager
Newpipe can also be used as a full-on replacement to the YouTube app or YouTube in a browser. It allows for background music, or video and audio downloads for offline enjoyment.
The apk has to be sideloaded, of course.
Came here to say this. Newpipe has been awesome. You don’t have to sign in, no ads, can still sub and make a playlist. It’s basically youtube premium and I have had zero issues with it.
Ugh, no. Another “emulate in browser what could’ve been native” thing.
This IS native in firefox for android. I have no idea why OP is using an extension.
Background playback used to be a thing in the official app, but then they obviously couldn’t get as many people to pay for YouTube Music or YouTube Premium or whatever.
Or just download it and play using VLC.
I mean… your music is gonna sound so funny if your internet stutters.
Look, I usually laugh at audiophiles for being snobs, but getting music from YouTube is gonna make your music sound funny without Internet issues
Get the music elsewhere if you’re gonna play local files
Use fennec or Ironfox
But you don’t need an extension for that? Just standard firefox can already do that.
This might be about the auto pause that happens during playlist. However OP did not say so I might be wrong.
Yeah. For me the video stops when I lock the screen (or change apps) but I can then press play again on the lock screen (or in the drop down notifications when changed to another app).
- RiMusic https://github.com/fast4x/RiMusic
- SimpMusic https://github.com/maxrave-dev/SimpMusic
- OuterTune https://github.com/OuterTune/OuterTune
- Metrolist https://github.com/mostafaalagamy/Metrolist
- InnerTune https://github.com/z-huang/InnerTune
Any of these (YouTube Music) players are better choices than using an extension on a browser.
Also better features like lyrics, better interface…PS: extensions can access all of your browser data, you need to trust the extensions hoping that they aren’t sending your data to some 3rd party
I’ve used most of these and quite frankly they are not good. Each of them quit working randomly or wouldn’t play certain tracks and wouldn’t get an update for days or weeks, at which point I’d move on to the next and get exactly the same experience. They’re FOSS apps, and I’m fairly certain Google is to blame for breaking them, but even so if they are unusable for days or weeks at a time I cannot recommend them.
If you just want a YouTube app with no ads and background playback I would recommend PipePipe. It’s what I’ve settled on after trying everything else, and it’s fantastic. Google breaks it all the time, but updates very quickly bring it back online.
If you want something FOSS that’s closer to the YT Music experience, I don’t know what to tell you.
ReVanced is better, it’s a cracked YouTube app
I just watched it when it stopped working after 8 months without issue. This is normal for it
RiMusic is update regularly, no third party player is perfect, even PipiPipe or Newpipe can break suddenly, Google/YouTube don’t like third party apps using their services and are always implementing ways to break apps
I’m pretty sure extensions can request browsing data for some specific URLs rather than every site you visit. If an extension with functionality on one website asks for access to all of them, then yeah it’s a bad sign.
The person you replied to is correct, and your link confirms it:
An extension with broad permissions can access all tabs and browsing data
The extension does not just have this access, it has to request it from the user first.
Of course, an extension can request access to all browsing data, but Firefox will tell you about that before you install it. And better still, the extension this post is about, doesn’t even request this:
RVX also does this. Install revanced.
For those on iOS: there’s an app called “Vinegar” that replaces the YouTube player with a vanilla HTML5 player that supports background/PiP play without YT Premium.
Alternatively on iPhones with “dynamic island”, minimize Safari while a video is playing, quickly tap-and-hold the dynamic island area and resume playback. After that you can lock your device and audio will continue playing.
This functionality is also built into the brave browser on mobile as well (at least on iOS)
Brave settings -> Media -> Enable Background Audio
I also use it to listen to podcasts/ lore videos without having my screen on when I’m falling asleep. It’s also nice for driving. If you make a playlist and have an ad blocker, it WILL continue on to the next song.
I’m actually thinking of forking Firefox and making a lite version mostly geared towards playing YouTube content without ads and without restrictions.
Just use NewPipe or one of it’s forks.
There are simpler ways - using newpipe, grayjay, etc.
It’s just a single install. But fair point. This allows you to create playlists, though.
It’s not gonna mean much of shit soon, anyone in the know is ditching Firefox for alternatives.
Firefox has changed their terms of service and is now starting to sell user data.
Yeah, your data is the trade away. I’m trying to fork it rn and bake in the extensions.
Problem is, that many alternatives still just build up on Firefox
If Firefox is dying, Waterfox, LibreWolf, etc will be dying with it, as they don’t have the resources to actually maintain the web engine
Not sure, what the best move currently is…
Am I the only one that still knows how to use Internet Explorer 5 on Windows 3.11?
That’s not even a joke, it still sorta works, but you’re not gonna log into your bank account with it.
I just don’t like to use wine for a application I use everyday
Lol people have been “ditching” Firefox for various reasons for years. If you can barely get people to ditch Chrome, good luck with making some ff fork relevant.
I’m curious, ditching Firefox for what? Chromium browsers? More Firefox forks? Is there even a good alternative?
New territory for me as well, but I don’t want to go with Chromium or any fork of that.
As of yesterday I’ve started testing Fennec, a recommended fork of Firefox, that has supposedly gutted much of the bullshit.
I dunno anything for sure though, just basically dipping my toes in the fresh digital waters…
They reverted those changes last week.
IDK, time will tell, we’ll see eventually.
We live in the world of enshittification, when changes like that happen, even when briefly reverted, are usually a sign of times to come soon…
The fact that they attempted them at all is a breach of trust (and I say that as someone who’s been a Firefox user and advocate without interruption since all the way back when it was called “Phoenix”).
What I do is I just jump into Termux and yt-dlp that shit. Then I can listen to it however I want, and I have it for ever, if I want.
edit: (Also I’m just not a huge fan of addons, but if you are and this works for you, that’s cool)
You can also use yt music revanced.
You know Firefox for android does this natively. No plugin required.
How? Mine does not as it is setup currently.
I play the video in Firefox then lock the screen, which stops the playback but then FF is in the media bar so I can press play to continue playback.
Didn’t realise that this worked, thanks!
That was my thought… I was thinking “I already do this without an extension”, so I had to verify that I wasn’t using an extension that I forgot about.
