feat(YouTube): Add Open Shorts in regular player patch

[LisoUseInAIKyrios]

Adds an option to open Shorts in the regular video player.

If patching 19.46+, then can also open Shorts fullscreen in the regular player .

 

Shorts regular player

Shorts regular player fullscreen

 
Code adapted from @0xrxL

[LisoUseInAIKyrios]

@0xrxL what video resolution are Shorts opening in for you? I'm seeing that every Short opens in the regular player in 360p, and after closing and reopening it's in 720p or 1080p.

I'm using default 'high quality' YouTube video quality and no ReVanced video override.

[LisoUseInAIKyrios]

The low qualify seems to be caused by spoofing.

With spoofing on the quality starts at 360p/480p and after ~10 seconds it changes to 720p/1080p. With spoofing off the quality is correct on video start.

Edit: This issue affects all videos but I never noticed until now. With regular videos it's not as noticeable when a video starts in 480p, but with a portrait video it's much more pronounced.

[0xrxL]

@LisoUseInAIKyrios You can make a further choice about this patch: if you still want to use shorts player, once you click the dedicated button on navigation bar, you can add a check to determine which button is pressed. The fingerprint should be already on this repo.

[0xrxL]

The low qualify seems to be caused by spoofing.

With spoofing on the quality starts at 360p/480p and after ~10 seconds it changes to 720p/1080p. With spoofing off the quality is correct on video start.

Edit: This issue affects all videos but I never noticed until now. With regular videos it's not as noticeable when a video starts in 480p, but with a portrait video it's much more pronounced.

I cannot reproduce this issue on my side. I watched a shorts with video player, and after some seconds the higher resolution has been set as usual. 🤷‍♂️

Maybe the problem is iOS spoofing? I totally removed it from list.

[LisoUseInAIKyrios]

I'm seeing low resolution only during the first 10 seconds, and only for Shorts that have never been opened before. Affects both spoof clients. Reopening a previous Short does not have the issue.

For me the issue is present for all videos (regular videos included), but visually it's only noticable with portrait shorts since the video is physically much larger on screen.

I didn't think about the Shorts nav tab. That should still always use the regular Shorts player.

[0xrxL]

I didn't think about the Shorts nav tab. That should still always use the regular Shorts player.

In this case you need to add the aforementioned check. 👍

[LisoUseInAIKyrios]

The low quality for the first 10 seconds might be fixed by figuring out how to not block the get_watch request.

Work in progress was here and here and discussion about the unsolved problems with not blocking here.

The 10 second quality issue does not show up with the regular Shorts player, and there is a delay when opening Shorts which may be the full video stream loading. Maybe can force that same Shorts preloading behavior for the regular player.

[0xrxL]

@LisoUseInAIKyrios Last fix is done!

Screen_Recording_20241218_052727.mp4

[LisoUseInAIKyrios]

Not sure what to call this patch.

Shorts player type (Too generic sounding?)
Change Shorts player type
Open Shorts in regular player (too wordy?)

[0xrxL]

Not sure what to call this patch.

Shorts player type (Too generic sounding?) Change Shorts player type Open Shorts in regular player (too wordy?)

Shorts Player Bypassing? Shorts Player Overriding? 🤷‍♂️

[LisoUseInAIKyrios]

Shorts player bypass sounds the best, even though it's not bypassing but instead changing.

[0xrxL]

Shorts player bypass sounds the best, even though it's not bypassing but instead changing.

At this point ypu can use Replace instead Bypass.

[oSumAtrIX]

Open Shorts in regular player or Open Shorts in normal player are fine. They explain exactly what the patch does.

[LisoUseInAIKyrios]

Maybe Shorts player override is better. Bypass and replace could suggest some kind of hiding.

[LisoUseInAIKyrios]

Open Shorts in regular player would be the most correct self description.

[LisoUseInAIKyrios]

I find that using the regular fullscreen player greatly reduces Shorts brain rot. Shorts no longer repeat and there is no swiping to the next Short. You watch the individual Short video you decided to open and that's all.

[0xrxL]

I find that using the regular fullscreen player greatly reduces Shorts brain rot. Shorts no longer repeat and there is no swiping to the next Short. You watch the individual Short video you decided to open and that's all.

Plus, the stardard player controls can be hide or show with a single tap.

Shorts player is the worst thing even conceived.

[0xrxL]

@LisoUseInAIKyrios Can you reproduce a shorts playback issue, when you try to open shorts section from launcher shortcuts, during a regular video is playing in background?

I think there is a problem with MainActivity intent check, that happen a too little instant before shorts section will become visibile.

[LisoUseInAIKyrios]

Yes I can reproduce. Maybe can check if the app is currently in PiP mode when then short is attempting to open.

The hooked method has a map parameter that might indicate it's an app shortcut opening the Shorts player. Haven't checked the map contents.

[0xrxL]

There's also a PostOnCreate() method, which is linked to the method that I used to check the current intent. Maybe can be used to anticipate the check.

Nevermind...the issue it's reproducible even with the patch disabled. So should be a stock bug.

[LisoUseInAIKyrios]

Shorts app shortcut launch can be detected by checking the map parameters.

But, the bug is present in all targets of YouTube. The UI becomes broken if the Shorts app shortcut is used while a video is playing in background PiP. Older targets behave a little better, but they're still broken in some way.

This use case seems unusual and maybe it's why it's gone unnoticed by YouTube for so long.

Edit: I should have looked for the edit above.