[FIXED in 0.27.5] [YouTube] IOS player response is not valid error when loading some videos

[rjdg14]

Checklist

• I am able to reproduce the bug with the latest version given here: CLICK THIS LINK.
• I made sure that there are no existing issues - open or closed - which I could contribute my information to.
• I have read the FAQ and my problem isn't listed.
• I have taken the time to fill in all the required details. I understand that the bug report will be dismissed otherwise.
• This issue contains only one bug.
• I have read and understood the contribution guidelines.

Affected version

0.27.4

Steps to reproduce the bug

1: Load a random video
2: Some videos will not play and instead present an error report

Expected behavior

The videos should be loading normally.

Actual behavior

A sad face error page is instead shown along with "Sorry, something went wrong" and a log button.

Screenshots/Screen recordings

No response

Logs

Exception

• User Action: requested stream
• Request: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElOAnyqLE8s
• Content Country: GB
• Content Language: en-GB
• App Language: en_GB
• Service: YouTube
• Version: 0.27.4
• OS: Linux Android 14 - 34

Crash log

org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.exceptions.ExtractionException: IOS player response is not valid
	at org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.services.youtube.extractors.YoutubeStreamExtractor.fetchIosMobileJsonPlayer(YoutubeStreamExtractor.java:974)
	at org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.services.youtube.extractors.YoutubeStreamExtractor.onFetchPage(YoutubeStreamExtractor.java:830)
	at org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.Extractor.fetchPage(Extractor.java:60)
	at org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.stream.StreamInfo.getInfo(StreamInfo.java:77)
	at org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.stream.StreamInfo.getInfo(StreamInfo.java:72)
	at org.schabi.newpipe.util.ExtractorHelper.lambda$getStreamInfo$3(ExtractorHelper.java:118)
	at org.schabi.newpipe.util.ExtractorHelper.$r8$lambda$bVfA-5gb6gDc8jcAgcGWG5oH0FE(ExtractorHelper.java:0)
	at org.schabi.newpipe.util.ExtractorHelper$$ExternalSyntheticLambda3.call(R8$$SyntheticClass:0)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.operators.single.SingleFromCallable.subscribeActual(SingleFromCallable.java:43)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.core.Single.subscribe(Single.java:4855)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.operators.single.SingleDoOnSuccess.subscribeActual(SingleDoOnSuccess.java:35)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.core.Single.subscribe(Single.java:4855)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.operators.maybe.MaybeFromSingle.subscribeActual(MaybeFromSingle.java:41)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.core.Maybe.subscribe(Maybe.java:5377)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.operators.maybe.MaybeConcatArray$ConcatMaybeObserver.drain(MaybeConcatArray.java:153)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.operators.maybe.MaybeConcatArray$ConcatMaybeObserver.request(MaybeConcatArray.java:78)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.operators.flowable.FlowableElementAtMaybe$ElementAtSubscriber.onSubscribe(FlowableElementAtMaybe.java:66)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.operators.maybe.MaybeConcatArray.subscribeActual(MaybeConcatArray.java:42)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.core.Flowable.subscribe(Flowable.java:16144)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.operators.flowable.FlowableElementAtMaybe.subscribeActual(FlowableElementAtMaybe.java:36)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.core.Maybe.subscribe(Maybe.java:5377)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.operators.maybe.MaybeToSingle.subscribeActual(MaybeToSingle.java:46)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.core.Single.subscribe(Single.java:4855)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.operators.single.SingleSubscribeOn$SubscribeOnObserver.run(SingleSubscribeOn.java:89)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.core.Scheduler$DisposeTask.run(Scheduler.java:644)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.schedulers.ScheduledRunnable.run(ScheduledRunnable.java:65)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.schedulers.ScheduledRunnable.call(ScheduledRunnable.java:56)
	at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:264)
	at java.util.concurrent.ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor$ScheduledFutureTask.run(ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor.java:307)
	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1145)
	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:644)
	at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:1012)

---

Affected Android/Custom ROM version

Android 15

Affected device model

Nokia X10

Additional information

Currently this issue is only affecting some videos.

[NottLexa]

Same issue here with a strange behavior. I can try to play some videos from my watch history, and one video after another will have the same error with IOS player. However, after trying to play 3 or 4 more videos they begin to work again, and even the old ones, which were initially causing this error. Stopping and reopening the whole app doesn't have any effect on this.

[FaFre]

Had the same issue on almost all videos, clearing the app cache solved the issue for me.

[rjdg14]

Had the same issue on almost all videos, clearing the app cache solved the issue for me.

I would say it's happening randomly on every third or so video, and then clears up after a few attempts. Clearing my cache didn't seem to make a difference.

[stevleibelt]

Same for me but I can not find a pattern. It even happens when pausing a video for less than five minutes. Sometimes it helps switching the network (mobile data vs. wifi), by clearing the cache or waiting up to an hour. No method is a clear problem solver.
My best guess is that youtube is doing a kind of a/b testing on their servers/backends.

[rjdg14]

Same for me but I can not find a pattern. It even happens when pausing a video for less than five minutes. Sometimes it helps switching the network (mobile data vs. wifi), by clearing the cache or waiting up to an hour. No method is a clear problem solver. My best guess is that youtube is doing a kind of a/b testing on their servers/backends.

What I can say is that it doesn't seem to currently be affecting FreeTube, which I think uses a different method of fetching streams to NewPipe, so the problem is definitely fixable in its current form.

[olemayu]

I don't know if this is same for others but on my end I can get past this error by tapping retry a few times. Give it a try while waiting for an update.

[gechoto]

The IOS player response now returns: "Sign in to confirm that you're not a bot"

this seems somewhat similar to #11139

I do not get this repsonse with other apps using the IOS client for now.
Maybe NewPipe sends some invalid parameter or the used IOS version is too old?

But I also saw some users reporting issues even with an up to date IOS client.
If it still doesn't work for many it might be worth switching to a different client or finding a way to generate po tokens.

[rjdg14]

The IOS player response now returns: "Sign in to confirm that you're not a bot"

this seems somewhat similar to #11139

I do not get this repsonse with other apps using the IOS client for now. Maybe NewPipe sends some invalid parameter or the used IOS version is too old?

But I also saw some users reporting issues even with an up to date IOS client. If it still doesn't work for many it might be worth switching to a different client or finding a way to generate po tokens.

The behaviour for me is the same as it was a day ago.

I know Apple typically only supports around 3-4 versions of their operating systems at once and apps typically support iOS for no more than a couple of versions prior to the currently supported ones, but doubt this is the issue here.

FreeTube still works without problem so it's clearly something to do with the way NewPipe currently fetches content.

[FaFre]

The same with me, but I can't view what I want but other videos rarely work... This is the video of 👇👇

https://youtube.com/shorts/L0JYTi-B-3U?si=LmoNJAZaeQWOILpo

What helped me is clearing the cache. Then pressing few times retry on the crash report dialog will eventually play any video, yours included.

[jorgedeand]

Also, if autoplay is enabled it will never go to next video. It will stop in the failed video. But as said before tapping on retry few times will eventually load the video

[stevleibelt]

Update from my side, even just retrying the video to load helps without clearing anything.

[gechoto]

I know Apple typically only supports around 3-4 versions of their operating systems at once and apps typically support iOS for no more than a couple of versions prior to the currently supported ones, but doubt this is the issue here.

Idk but judging by reports of users and what other apps are doing they seem to have less problems with a more recent IOS client so I think it is worth updating it.

FreeTube still works without problem so it's clearly something to do with the way NewPipe currently fetches content.

Of course there are many differences between the two.
For example FreeTube can generate PO tokens. NewPipe cannot.

[litetex]

Since it might still take a moment until TeamNewPipe/NewPipeExtractor#1262 is merged and released with other changes on the fly, I built a debug version with the changes (Warning: not optimized might be a bit slower):

app-debug.zip

Feel free to check it out in the meantime ;)

[Stypox]

Release v0.27.5 is out with a fix to this issue: https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe/releases/tag/v0.27.5