The official YouTube app no longer works on Android Gingerbread (2018). Remedies.

This is meant to be a reply in a thread at Google Product Forums. I've posted it here first. The official YouTube app stopped functioning in Android 2.3 in late-late October 2018.

Just an update: Logging out in the non-functional YouTube app in Gingerbread made it impossible to log in again. The error message (roughly translated) reads:

A problem occurred during launch. Check the network connection and system time.

It seems to me, that Error 410 probably appeared when an account is set as logged-in in the YouTube app, though I cannot claim this for certain. The error cited above now appears when attempting to log in, or when trying to play videos.

On the other hand, I got yet another opportunity to check out a device with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), and the YouTube app does work there, provided, that some of the software components are kept up-to-date.

The example ICS setup with a working YouTube app has the following component versions:

* Android 4.0.3
* Google Play Store 8.0.76.R-all [0] [PR] 163912422
* Google Play Services 14.5.74 (000302-219897028)
* YouTube app version 11.01.70

People with Android 2.3 Gingerbread and a non-functioning YouTube app can do the following:

• Continue using the mobile YouTube site in the default browser that would launch videos in an external player.

The reason I suggest using the default browser ("Internet"), is, that while older versions of Mozilla Firefox and derivatives can run on Android 2.3, and while they do also support HTML5 video, then Firefox is resource-intensive on low-end devices. Such devices do not have enough RAM memory, and/or cannot run anything greater than Gingerbread. With these, video playback might work in Firefox, but not satisfactorily, or might not work at all.

• Or they can upgrade to at least Android 4.0 — either by updating the software, if a device manufacturer and/or mobile operator has an update on offer; or by obtaining a device installed with at least ICS.

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This I left out of the reply:

It appears, that this time, the YouTube app not working on Android Gingerbread is final, hence 'no longer' in the title of this post. I don't think it will be fixed, and it would be a miracle, if it were. If someone has Android 2.3 with a working YouTube app, while most others don't have that, then the most likely explanation could be expired certificates in the app and Gingerbread itself, and updated certificates on the YouTube end. Such is life.

In this case, I follow a personal policy of not suggesting alternative apps. Therefore, if the official app doesn't work, use the browser.

Posting URLs with multiple concurrent dots in YouTube comments

In a YouTube discussion under one of the Star Trek-related video clips, a commenter ha posted an address to a Memory Alpha page into the comments, but the address to the article was truncated, because it contained three concurrent dots:

Intended address:

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Trek_is...

and as it turned out in truncated form:

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Trek_is.

Note, that the two last dots are gone, and if the address is clicked on at YouTube comments, the browser is taken to a "404/Not found" page in Memory Alpha.

The article about what Star Trek is, actually does contain three dots at the end of its address, but the YouTube comments system doesn't like it, as I found this out through my Google+ notifications on the desktop and the (linked) comments at desktop YouTube.

The somewhat unorthodox solution to avoiding dots from being truncated is to insert the URL with those three ending dots and replace the two last-most dots with their percent-encoded representations. Case in point:

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Trek_is.%2E%2E

That one dot there may remain.

The percent-encoded values are available from Windows Character Map, a similar program in UNIX/Linux, or through any Unicode character table available on the web.

One can also try with

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Trek_is.%2E.

— with "typed dot | precent-encoded dot | typed dot" after "_is", but there cannot be any two or more concurrent normally-typed dots.

Truncation of characters in addresses pasted (or typed) into YouTube comments can also apply to other web addresses with multiple concurrent characters, but I do not know, which types of characters are more affected or less. I could lay a claim, that special and non-alphanumeric characters that are used in programming, are treated with a greater level of scrutiny.

Tips on making a good YouTube video

In order of importance:

• Use a tripod or something that can hold your phone in place while you're filming;
• When filming with a modern mobile phone, always hold it sideways to avoid 'tall' vids;
• Make sure the aspect ratio matches the YouTube video box, which is 16:9;
• If video aspect ratio is different, then YouTube allows letterboxing;
• Avoid uploading videos in less than 360p; else they will look pixelated in the video box;

Audio

• Do not upload videos with low volume, because most other videos are louder, and so are video ads;
• Avoid excessive audio treble, otherwise 's' sounds are too loud, which might hurt ears;
• To minimize echo, set up an almost wall-height bookshelf full of books or stuff along at least one nearby wall. Keep it clean and dust-free.

Intro and end clips

• Intro clips should be short, at best up to 15 seconds (else boring);
• If intro has music, its volume should fade in from 0 or 25% to normal;
• End clips should always have lower volume than your video;

Text in video

• Do not use cursive fonts, they are hard to read;
• See if you can do without very thin fonts, as these can be hard to read on small displays or from a distance;
• Do not use too large text size, as that's hard to read, too. It's good only for a separate video thumbnail image;
• Try to avoid colouring each letter, because that is also hard to read;
• Consider text contours or text shadow or some translucent text background color if video content changes from light to dark at text position;

You

• You may look gorgeous, but if you have an important message, then keep your shirt on like Russ Marine (now Civilian) does, so that your listeners won't get distracted.

Other people

• Avoid publishing videos with your own or anyone else's children in them. They are not your dog or cat, and they need privacy, too, even if they don't yet understand what it means — Small children are unable to give consent, as they don't yet have the concept of public/private and what consent is.
• A child of school age can be taught these things, so they will eventually learn to understand, so they can make their own choices.
• There are times and places when publishing videos with children in them are necessary:

If you happen to document any kind of abuse with anyone anywhere, then be ready for the following: You need to have a device of insignificant cost, good recoding features, fast connection, and instant upload to a throwaway account for backup, because authorities are very keen on gatherng evidence.

Speech manners

• When talking,
avoid using words like "don't", "doesn't", "didn't", etc., because these can be misheard wrongly. Try instead "do not", "does not", "did not", and so on with 'could', 'should' and the like. Unless you want to be ambiguous on purpose.
• Do not confuse 'may', 'can', and 'might': Avoid "bad people may or can do something", as if you might be giving them permission, and use 'might' instead; whereas "really good people _can_ do something good."