# Invidious Video Player

_Are you a YouTube addict but not a fan of Google's orwellian overreach on your privacy? There is a solution and it's called Invidious._

**Written By:** Geovian\
**Date:** 15 October 2020

## What is Invidious
Invidious is a YouTube viewing platform that does not require you to be logged into Google. It has a number of instances that are available via a Web URL, though not all of them are active, and some instances perform better than others. I'll touch on that aspect further on.

Invidious is great when used in conjunction with De-Googled phones or on the TOR Network. You get the benefit of viewing YouTube videos but without being tracked. 

## Features
One of the good things with Invidious is that you can create an account which only includes a username and a password. There is no requirement for an email nor a mobile phone number to confirm your account. So, by watching videos you can be assured that no tracking is going on.

Because there is no Google sign-in, you are unable to interact with videos by way of comments. In a way, that's actually quite a good thing as the comments section can be a feral and toxic environment.

You can however, still see all the comments, unlike the NewPipe video app which doesn't.

You do have the ability to subscribe to YouTube channels in the normal way, so you won't be missing out on your favourite vloggers. This is one of the main reasons why Invidious has an account setup, so that your subscription details are saved to it.

There are two viewing modes, the first is the traditional YouTube video layout which should be familiar to everyone, plus Invidious has its own video layout. You can select either or, and go with whatever looks right for you.

## Invidious Instances
There are a handful of Invidious instances running in different parts of the world. Some work better than others. Instances are similar to federated communities, like Mastodon or Diaspora for instance. 

Previously, the main instance was **invidio.us**, but this was closed down a few years ago as the lead developer left the project.

Here is a list of instances [click on this URL](https://docs.invidious.io/Invidious-Instances.md)

For me personally, I use the German instance **invidio.xamh.de**, which has all of my bases covered. I had used **yewtu.be**, but I noticed some glitches which prompted me to change to the German one.

For TOR users, there are several Onion links too, which you can save in your TOR browser.

## The future of Invidious
Like anything to do with Google, you can expect some backlash from Big Tech in the way of obstruction or some sort of platform prevention. As at early 2022, this hasn't really happened, so enjoy the lack of overreach while we still have it.