Yeah, I thinknthebmost important aspect of these things is that we have to start consuming video without letting Google track our activity. Whether it is Freestone or another client, this means tacking our own video preferences and searching for likewise content manually.

I am a bit worried that long term, Google will simply withold video content. Without the ability to track users, and be the definitive authority on what a view means, Google really has no reason to stream video to people for free. Eventually, Google, in their desperation will resort to more and more forceful measures to track people who watch your videos - invalidating your Google account and cutting off your access to drive, maps, and search is a possibility.

It is prudent to get off of their client and go private now. But we also have to think about replacing the backend, similar to how lemmy is replacing the reddit backend. Peertube exists, but it is a much heavier lift for self hosting. I would also want to see a client that is committed to mixing youtube videos with peertube bidoes, or other backends before it is too late.