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Add some answers to the FAQ (#219)
Answer the following frequently asked questions: - Can't login nor save preferences (e.g #2962) - Sync user data between multiple instances (e.g #2515) - Captions/Subtitles not showing up (e.g #2565) - DB::PoolRetryAttemptsExceeded (e.g #1582) - Where are the other quality options? (e.g #2521)
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docs/FAQ.md

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- Using Invidious
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* [Can I use Invidious on my device?](#q-can-i-use-invidious-on-my-device)
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* [Do you plan to make an Android/iOS app?](#q-do-you-plan-to-make-an-androidios-app)
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* [Can I synchronize my account between instances?](
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#q-can-i-synchronize-my-account-between-instances)
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* [What data is collected by Invidious?](#q-what-data-is-collected-by-invidious)
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* [What data is shared with YouTube?](#q-what-data-is-shared-with-youtube)
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- Commonly encountered errors
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- Commonly encountered errors/problems
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* [The media could not be loaded…](#q-the-media-could-not-be-loaded)
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* [Could not check out a connection in 2.0 seconds (DB::PoolTimeout)](
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#q-could-not-check-out-a-connection-in-20-seconds-dbpooltimeout)
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* [`DB::PoolRetryAttemptsExceeded`](#q-dbpoolretryattemptsexceeded)
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* [Subtitles are not working!](#q-subtitles-are-not-working)
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* [Where are the 360p/480p/1080p quality options?](
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#q-where-are-the-360p480p1080p-quality-options)
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- Running your own instance
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* [Do you provide pre-built binaries (`.deb`, `.rpm`, etc..)?](
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#q-rss-feedslinksetc-urls-redirect-to-ip3000-but-i-have-a-reverse-proxy)
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* [The "popular" feed/page on my instance is empty!](
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#q-the-popular-feedpage-on-my-instance-is-empty)
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* [I can't log in nor save preferences](#q-i-cant-log-in-nor-save-preferences)
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# Using Invidious
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<br/>
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## **Q:** Can I synchronize my account between instances?
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**A:** Short answer: manually => Yes, automatically => No.
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**How to do it manually:**
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1. Go to the import/export page while connected to your account (preferences
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page, then click the "Import/export data" link at the bottom of the page)
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2. Click on "Export Invidious data as JSON"
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3. Go to the same import/export page on the other instance
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4. Use "Import Invidious JSON data"
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5. Press import
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Yes, we're aware that it's cumbersome. Please continue to read to understand
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why we don't implement automatic synchronization.
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**Why we don't implement automatic sync:**
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TL;DR: we don't have the time to implement/maintain it.
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To get automatic synchronization, we have 3 options:
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1. Centralized database (like Youtube)
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2. Federation (like Matrix, Mastodon and PeerTube)
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3. An external tool that uses the API
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1. A centralized database goes against our idea of a decentralized web so
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let's ignore that right away (plus, we don't want to risk hosting large
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amounts of user data anyway).
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2. Federation is a good option (it works well for the others), however we
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currently don't have the time nor the resources required to implement it.
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3. An external tool (that runs locally on your PC, or a self-hosted server
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like _Firefox Sync_) is also a valid option. As for federation, we don't
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have the resources to develop such a solution. PRs and external tool
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propositions are welcome!
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Please see the following issues for more details on the subject:
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https://github.com/iv-org/invidious/issues/2515
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<br/>
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## **Q:** What data is collected by Invidious?
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**A:** Invidious by itself does not collect any data about its users, but
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<br/>
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# Commonly encountered errors
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# Commonly encountered errors/problems
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## **Q:** The media could not be loaded…
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<br/>
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## **Q:** `DB::PoolRetryAttemptsExceeded`
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**A:** The instance you are using is having _database issues_. Please use
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another instance from the [list of public instances](
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https://instances.invidious.io)
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If you're an instance admin, first try restarting Invidious. Then try
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restarting PostgreSQL. If neither fixed the problem, try [increasing the
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maximum number of connections allowed](https://stackoverflow.com/a/32584211).
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Some distributions change the default to a low number.
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## **Q:** Subtitles are not working!
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**A:** Subtitles (also know as "Closed Captions") are generally not working
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on popular Invidious instances. This is due to URL rate limiting coming
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from Google servers.
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To solve that, try using a less popular public instance or host Invidious
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yourself.
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Please take a look at the following issue for more details:
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https://github.com/iv-org/invidious/issues/2567
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<br/>
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## **Q:** Where are the 360p/480p/1080p quality options?
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**A:** These quality options are only available when DASH is enabled.
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In order to enable DASH, go to the preferences and set the preferred
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video quality to "DASH".
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Note that DASH requires Javascript and _can_ be disabled by the instance
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administrator. So if the option is not available to you, try to switch to
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another instance.
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By default, DASH is not enabled to allow videos to be played without
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Javascript and also to save on bandwidth (DASH **must** be proxied in order
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to work properly, which uses a lot of the instance bandwidth).
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<br/>
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# Running your own instance
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**A:** The "popular" feed is generated from the videos that are popular amongst
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the users registered on your instance. If nobody has created an account on your
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instance (e.g if registration is disabled) the popular feed will be empty.
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<br/>
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## **Q:** I can't log in nor save preferences!
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**A:** Double check your config! The value of the `domain` config option is
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used for the session (`SID`) and preferences (`PREFS`) cookies. If set
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incorrectly, the cookies will be invalid, and your browser will silently
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ignore them.
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**If you access your invidious instance by IP address (like `192.168.1.205`)
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then leave the `domain` config option EMPTY!**
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Common invalid values include:
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- IP addresses (like `192.168.1.205`)
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- Scheme before the domain (`https://example.com`)
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- Port after the domain (`example.com:3000`)
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- Typo in the FQDN (`<domain>.cm` instead of `<domain>.com`)

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