Local API: Implement SABR for VODs by PikachuEXE · Pull Request #8047 · FreeTubeApp/FreeTube

PikachuEXE · 2025-09-17T02:45:27Z

Pull Request Type

Bugfix
Feature Implementation
Documentation
Other

Related issue

#7145
#7887
Closes #6683
Closes #7119
Closes #7920

Description

Based on #7145 (Please read that PR first
Using https://github.com/LuanRT/googlevideo 4.0.4

Implementation updated (different from Local API: Implement SABR for VODs #7145) to have playback session scoped stuff like SABR context & playbackCookie (SABR details)
Player streaming timeout doubled (30s > 60s) to handle sometimes ~40MB response instead of ~10MB (at 2k quality, e.g. https://youtu.be/NmdXl7vXZ7g)
New setting for enabling SABR in experimental section

Non-SABR

Also updated the implementation for Wait for pre-roll ads to finish in /player request #7887 to show pre-roll ads time in toast
Toast now updated to be possible to show updated messages (hard coded to refresh per 1s currently)

Screenshots

Lazy maybe add later?

Testing

A. SABR off

Test pre-roll ads time toast
Test various video playback (should be the same)

B. SABR on

Test various video playback (should be the same)

Find custom builds at https://github.com/PikachuEXE/FreeTube/actions/workflows/build.yml?query=branch%3Asabr-pr
Find cutting edge custom builds (I only use this branch for testing fixes myself, but can be outdated once I finished testing): https://github.com/PikachuEXE/FreeTube/actions/workflows/build.yml?query=branch%3Acustom-builds%2Fsabr

Desktop

OS:
OS Version:
FreeTube version:

Additional context

Remaining tasks

Add/Update labels/tooltips/toasts & make them translatable (after text confirmed)
Handle infinite player reload - Allow max 3 player reloads for the same video before fallback to older DASH, if player loaded the reload doesn't count
Handle player reload during playback - Reload while keeping timestamp
Handle SABR playback delay in the middle - keep toast for now
Handle infinite SABR playback delay - reload player after (per req) backoff requested 5 times / cumulative delay going to be larger than timeout for request
Handle infinite next request policy received - reload player after (per req) next request policy received 100 times
Enable SABR by default
Handle more edge cases if found

Post PR

Remove download feature (broken anyway)

absidue · 2025-09-17T05:06:01Z

I really hope it being an experimental setting that is disabled by default is just because you have some things left in the remaining tasks section...

PikachuEXE · 2025-09-17T06:28:35Z

I don't think it should be enabled by default for the first release
Otherwise there might be too many feedbacks to be handled
Whether it should remain in experimental section depends on how many edge case found and not handled well (Might be moved or not before next release

absidue · 2025-09-17T07:26:25Z

If we are going to keep it as a setting for the moment, it definitely should stay in the experimental settings and we should have a very clear plan for getting rid of it ASAP. The MWEB workaround is a workaround and is unlikely to keep working forever, so if it breaks while we still allow people to not use SABR we will have to keep finding new workarounds, which quite frankly I don't want to have to do when we know that SABR is the proper solution.

If we keep it a setting I would suggest enabling it by default but having the setting there as a temporary opt-out, that way we'll get more feedback but people can also disable it temporarily if they have issues, until you've decided it is stable enough.

…der DASH

…stamp

efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc

Both with and without SABR i get this error but that is on a server that is running through tor. If i connect to a normal server it does work

VirtualBoxVM_pCIApV5i4Z.mp4

github-actions · 2025-09-21T10:32:00Z

This pull request has conflicts, please resolve those before we can evaluate the pull request.

efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc · 2025-09-21T17:09:15Z

Im not seeing the return of audio tracks -> #6683

* development: (24 commits) Add proxy login support (FreeTubeApp#7996) Migrate the History view to the composition API (FreeTubeApp#8064) Fix player button hiding (FreeTubeApp#8065) Translated using Weblate (Norwegian Bokmål) Translated using Weblate (Indonesian) Fix playback rate reset when video ends (FreeTubeApp#7718) Skip Electron binary download in CI as we do not run it (FreeTubeApp#8063) Feat: Display player overlay controls on keyboard interaction (FreeTubeApp#7757) Translated using Weblate (Hungarian) Translated using Weblate (Czech) Translated using Weblate (Estonian) Translated using Weblate (French) Bump electron from 37.4.0 to 38.1.0 (FreeTubeApp#8025) Translated using Weblate (Dutch) Translated using Weblate (Portuguese (Brazil)) Translated using Weblate (German) Translated using Weblate (Breton) Translated using Weblate (Italian) Translated using Weblate (Chinese (Simplified Han script)) Support exporting single playlists as a list of video URLs (FreeTubeApp#8054) ... # Conflicts: # src/renderer/components/ft-shaka-video-player/ft-shaka-video-player.js

…iddle of playback

github-actions · 2025-09-22T01:42:15Z

Conflicts have been resolved. A maintainer will review the pull request shortly.

PikachuEXE · 2025-09-22T07:26:48Z

Test fix not pushed this this PR yet: https://github.com/PikachuEXE/FreeTube/actions/runs/17907855602

efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc · 2025-09-22T11:10:12Z

Seems to resolve #7921 but we have to check with users after release

ArthurKun21 · 2025-09-23T01:13:53Z

Test fix not pushed this this PR yet: https://github.com/PikachuEXE/FreeTube/actions/runs/17907855602

Was using this and got hit with 404 earlier for a music

https://youtu.be/8tamOu8AwFE

bundle-1758589261369.log

It was only once so far.

* development: Bump the eslint group across 1 directory with 4 updates (FreeTubeApp#8073) Bump electron from 38.1.0 to 38.1.2 (FreeTubeApp#8071) Bump sass from 1.92.1 to 1.93.0 (FreeTubeApp#8067) Bump lefthook from 1.13.0 to 1.13.1 (FreeTubeApp#8072) Bump swiper from 12.0.1 to 12.0.2 (FreeTubeApp#8070) Translated using Weblate (Italian) Translated using Weblate (Czech) Translated using Weblate (Hungarian) Translated using Weblate (German) Translated using Weblate (Estonian) Translated using Weblate (Breton) Translated using Weblate (German) Translated using Weblate (Chinese (Traditional Han script)) Improve playlist import performance (FreeTubeApp#8062) Translated using Weblate (Norwegian Bokmål) Translated using Weblate (Portuguese (Brazil)) Translated using Weblate (Chinese (Simplified Han script)) Translated using Weblate (Japanese) Handle lockup view videos without a view count (FreeTubeApp#8066)

* development: (50 commits) Translated using Weblate (Slovak) Translated using Weblate (Slovak) Translated using Weblate (Slovak) add skip to previous/next video buttons in media player (FreeTubeApp#8285) Translated using Weblate (Slovak) Translated using Weblate (Slovak) Translated using Weblate (German) Bump express from 4.21.2 to 4.22.0 (FreeTubeApp#8374) Bump electron-builder from 26.3.0 to 26.3.2 (FreeTubeApp#8370) Translated using Weblate (Hebrew) Bump the eslint group with 2 updates (FreeTubeApp#8367) Translated using Weblate (Portuguese) Bump stylelint from 16.26.0 to 16.26.1 in the stylelint group (FreeTubeApp#8368) Bump vue-i18n from 11.1.12 to 11.2.2 (FreeTubeApp#8369) Bump electron from 39.2.3 to 39.2.4 (FreeTubeApp#8371) Bump mikefarah/yq from 4.49.1 to 4.49.2 (FreeTubeApp#8372) Translated using Weblate (Slovak) Translated using Weblate (Slovak) Translated using Weblate (Slovak) Translated using Weblate (Slovak) ...

* development: (62 commits) Support exporting single playlists in YouTube's CSV format (FreeTubeApp#8430) Move external player handling to the main process (FreeTubeApp#8416) Revert "[Bug fix] Set max-block-size to prevent thin videos from passing the …" (FreeTubeApp#8418) Migrate the App component to the composition API (FreeTubeApp#8417) Bump electron-builder from 26.3.5 to 26.3.6 (FreeTubeApp#8422) Bump css-minimizer-webpack-plugin from 7.0.3 to 7.0.4 (FreeTubeApp#8428) Bump the eslint group with 3 updates (FreeTubeApp#8420) Bump sass from 1.94.2 to 1.96.0 (FreeTubeApp#8429) Bump vue-router from 4.6.3 to 4.6.4 (FreeTubeApp#8425) Bump peter-evans/create-pull-request from 7 to 8 (FreeTubeApp#8423) Bump mikefarah/yq from 4.49.2 to 4.50.1 (FreeTubeApp#8427) Bump lefthook from 2.0.8 to 2.0.11 (FreeTubeApp#8426) Bump electron from 39.2.6 to 39.2.7 (FreeTubeApp#8421) Bump actions/upload-artifact from 5 to 6 (FreeTubeApp#8424) Translated using Weblate (Russian) Translated using Weblate (Bulgarian) Translated using Weblate (German) Translated using Weblate (Indonesian) Translated using Weblate (Portuguese (Brazil)) Translated using Weblate (Japanese) ...

* development: (26 commits) Use bash even in workflows that run on Windows (FreeTubeApp#8493) Translated using Weblate (Malay) fix refresh (FreeTubeApp#8475) Harden GitHub Actions workflows (FreeTubeApp#8476) Update copyright year to 2026 (FreeTubeApp#8487) Added translation using Weblate (Malay) Bump globals from 16.5.0 to 17.0.0 (FreeTubeApp#8484) Bump vue-i18n from 11.2.7 to 11.2.8 (FreeTubeApp#8483) Translated using Weblate (Welsh) Bump qs from 6.14.0 to 6.14.1 (FreeTubeApp#8471) Translated using Weblate (Estonian) Bump lefthook from 2.0.12 to 2.0.13 (FreeTubeApp#8461) Translated using Weblate (Dutch) Fix DeArrow thumbnails for shorts getting stretched (FreeTubeApp#8434) Clean up FtSlider CSS (FreeTubeApp#8438) Migrate the GeneralSettings component to the composition API (FreeTubeApp#8439) Translated using Weblate (English (United Kingdom)) Bump vue-i18n from 11.2.2 to 11.2.7 (FreeTubeApp#8451) Bump electron-builder from 26.3.6 to 26.4.0 (FreeTubeApp#8446) Bump lefthook from 2.0.11 to 2.0.12 (FreeTubeApp#8449) ...

PikachuEXE · 2026-01-15T01:23:44Z

Maybe last build: https://github.com/PikachuEXE/FreeTube/actions/runs/21014343103
Please test

MulverineX · 2026-01-15T02:40:00Z

I gave this a shot and its working for me, haven't tested it that extensively though.

efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc · 2026-01-16T21:01:33Z

working perfectly like reported earlier internally but when i set default formats to legacy in the settings it always plays dash

PikachuEXE · 2026-01-16T23:21:59Z

I got this and I have no idea how to fix yet
Update 1: No such issue on dev

PikachuEXE · 2026-01-17T00:06:48Z

Fixed
Legacy format requires it to be handled as if SABR disabled, and the ad time parsing also needs to be updated
Build: https://github.com/PikachuEXE/FreeTube/actions/runs/21084719641

efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc · 2026-01-17T13:36:59Z

New build: https://github.com/PikachuEXE/FreeTube/actions/runs/21094847809

efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc · 2026-01-17T17:24:32Z

remaining thing todo is to get rid of the toggle in experimental settings and the fallback to the workarounds

efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc · 2026-01-17T22:11:28Z

remaining thing todo is to get rid of the toggle in experimental settings and the fallback to the workarounds

This will be addressed in a followup. So ready to merge!

ChunkyProgrammer

Great work everyone ❤️

* development: (55 commits) Translated using Weblate (Chinese (Simplified Han script)) Translated using Weblate (Czech) Translated using Weblate (Russian) Translated using Weblate (Polish) Translated using Weblate (Kurdish (Central)) Translated using Weblate (French) Use GITHUB_TOKEN instead of dedicated PUSH_TOKEN in auto-merge workflow (FreeTubeApp#8541) Local API: Implement SABR for VODs (FreeTubeApp#8047) Bump package version from 0.23.12 to 0.23.13 (FreeTubeApp#8531) Update CodeQL workflow to match the latest template (FreeTubeApp#8533) fix: video player playback rate (FreeTubeApp#8407) Decipher live DASH manifest URL (FreeTubeApp#8530) Add a show all windows button to the tray menu (FreeTubeApp#8494) Disable automatically running the flatpak workflow (FreeTubeApp#8507) fix using shift on watch page (FreeTubeApp#8491) Translated using Weblate (Hebrew) Translated using Weblate (Hebrew) Fix WAPT link in README (FreeTubeApp#8529) Fix typo in auto-merge workflow (FreeTubeApp#8518) Added translation using Weblate (Uzbek) ...

Local API: Implement SABR for VODs

0fd7535

FreeTubeBot enabled auto-merge (squash) September 17, 2025 02:45

github-actions bot added PR: dependencies Pull requests that update a dependency file PR: waiting for review For PRs that are complete, tested, and ready for review labels Sep 17, 2025

This comment was marked as resolved.

Sign in to view

absidue mentioned this pull request Sep 17, 2025

Local API: Implement SABR for VODs #7145

Closed

1 task

PikachuEXE added 4 commits September 18, 2025 08:53

* Allow max 3 player reloads for the same video before fallback to ol…

46d7e61

…der DASH

! Fix data type for playerTimeMs (googlevideo 4.0.4)

7e19728

* Update player reload handling to restart player at the current time…

d705292

…stamp

* Do not count reload if player is loaded after that

69e9500

efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc reviewed Sep 18, 2025

View reviewed changes

PikachuEXE added 2 commits September 19, 2025 11:05

! Fix access from nullable object

efa5920

* Remove code for debug only

c4784ee

github-actions bot added PR: merge conflicts / rebase needed and removed PR: waiting for review For PRs that are complete, tested, and ready for review labels Sep 21, 2025

PikachuEXE added 3 commits September 22, 2025 09:41

! Workaround infinite backoff (mostly at the middle of playback

af51633

! Workaround infinite retry due to nextRequestPolicy (mostly at the m…

a330d08

…iddle of playback

github-actions bot removed the PR: merge conflicts / rebase needed label Sep 22, 2025

PikachuEXE mentioned this pull request Sep 23, 2025

[Bug]: video freezes and reloads, and when it does, only lower resolution is available #7921

Open

7 tasks

This comment was marked as resolved.

Sign in to view

This comment has been minimized.

Sign in to view

PikachuEXE and others added 3 commits January 7, 2026 09:42

Merge branch 'development' into sabr-pr

76f4e4e

Add support for Voice Boost formats

dc62d87

efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc linked an issue Jan 16, 2026 that may be closed by this pull request

[Bug]: Audio formats are not available for this video / 360p only streams - SABR #7119

Closed

6 tasks

! Fix legacy format handling

ac57e2b

Fix voice boost being selected as the default audio track

c77fd97

efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc approved these changes Jan 17, 2026

View reviewed changes

efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc requested review from MarmadileManteater and absidue January 17, 2026 21:56

absidue added the PR: waiting for review For PRs that are complete, tested, and ready for review label Jan 17, 2026

absidue approved these changes Jan 17, 2026

View reviewed changes

ChunkyProgrammer approved these changes Jan 17, 2026

View reviewed changes

FreeTubeBot merged commit 15fb9ee into FreeTubeApp:development Jan 17, 2026
5 checks passed

github-actions bot removed the PR: waiting for review For PRs that are complete, tested, and ready for review label Jan 17, 2026

toobuntu mentioned this pull request Jan 18, 2026

[Feature Request]: Use adPlaybackContext to skip preroll ad wait time #8537

Open

4 tasks

Conversation

PikachuEXE commented Sep 17, 2025 • edited by efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Pull Request Type

Related issue

Description

Screenshots

Testing

A. SABR off

B. SABR on

Desktop

Additional context

Post PR

Uh oh!

This comment was marked as resolved.

absidue commented Sep 17, 2025

Uh oh!

PikachuEXE commented Sep 17, 2025

Uh oh!

absidue commented Sep 17, 2025

Uh oh!

efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc left a comment • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

github-actions bot commented Sep 21, 2025

Uh oh!

efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc commented Sep 21, 2025

Uh oh!

github-actions bot commented Sep 22, 2025

Uh oh!

PikachuEXE commented Sep 22, 2025

Uh oh!

efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc commented Sep 22, 2025

Uh oh!

ArthurKun21 commented Sep 23, 2025

Uh oh!

This comment was marked as resolved.

Uh oh!

This comment was marked as resolved.

This comment was marked as resolved.

This comment has been minimized.

PikachuEXE commented Jan 15, 2026

Uh oh!

MulverineX commented Jan 15, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc commented Jan 16, 2026

Uh oh!

PikachuEXE commented Jan 16, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

PikachuEXE commented Jan 17, 2026

Uh oh!

efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc commented Jan 17, 2026

Uh oh!

efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc commented Jan 17, 2026

Uh oh!

efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc commented Jan 17, 2026

Uh oh!

ChunkyProgrammer left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

11 participants

PikachuEXE commented Sep 17, 2025 •

edited by efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc

Loading

efb4f5ff-1298-471a-8973-3d47447115dc left a comment •

edited

Loading

MulverineX commented Jan 15, 2026 •

edited

Loading

PikachuEXE commented Jan 16, 2026 •

edited

Loading