NewPipe shouldn't keep comments' replies in page history if the video to which they belong is not open anymore

[hollownights]

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.
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• I have read and understood the AI policy. The content of this bug report is not generated by AI.

Affected version

0.28.2

Steps to reproduce the bug

Open a video, see if there are comments with replies to them, open the replies to one comment, watch the video get minimized to the bottom, "reopen" the video from the bottom, open the replies to another comment, once again reopen the minimized video, open another set of replies, and this time close ("X") the video at the bottom. Now try to go back with the Back button. You'll see that NewPipe will make you go through the replies that you had open, even though the video is no longer open.

Expected behavior

Clear previously open comments' replies from memory if the video to which they belong is no longer open, freeing users from having to go back for who-knows-how-long in page history due to previously open replies.

Actual behavior

All replies are being kept in page history.

Screenshots/Screen recordings

No response

Logs

No response

Affected Android/Custom ROM version

Android 16 / OneUI 8.0

Affected device model

No response

Additional information

No response

[aivelon]

create PR #13213 for this.

[Mikookz]

Error

[hollownights]

@vineet3996 Hi, there! Thank you very much for tackling this issue! I have been reconsidering part of my understanding of this problem, though. To use yours PR description, I think that to...

Remove existing comment replies screens before adding new one.

... is absolutely great and solve the annoying problem with infinite back-pages, but I'm not sure that to...

Also close all comment replies screens when the video details screen is closed.

... is ideal anymore. Reason being that closing the replies' page that the user has on screen may be a little disconcerting, cause, sure, the user may not want to watch/listen to the video anymore, but they may still be reading the comments on screen.

[aivelon]

@vineet3996 Hi, there! Thank you very much for tackling this issue! I have been reconsidering part of my understanding of this problem, though. To use yours PR description, I think that to...

Remove existing comment replies screens before adding new one.

... is absolutely great and solve the annoying problem with infinite back-pages, but I'm not sure that to...

Also close all comment replies screens when the video details screen is closed.

... is ideal anymore. Reason being that closing the replies' page that the user has on screen may be a little disconcerting, cause, sure, the user may not want to watch/listen to the video anymore, but they may still be reading the comments on screen.

While what you are saying makes sense, I think that this should also apply to the main comments screen as well. Why does the main comments list get closed when the video is closed and the replies have to remain?
I believe a better way would be to either show the comments and replies in the same view (either in the same comments tab of the video or as a separate view like the replies)

[hollownights]

Why does the main comments list get closed when the video is closed and the replies have to remain?

Oh, but there is no need for it to be like that! Yes, you have closed the video, yes, you may want to go back to the full list of comments (instead of having the main comments list closed, like you said), but you don't have to go back to neither the video, nor the comments list, but rather can go to the "Show info" page", where both the video and the main comments are present. NewPipe has that "Settings>Video and audio>Preferred 'open' action" setting* where it "reveals" how some of the different parts of the app are treated, and "Show info", "Video player", "Background player" and "Popup player" are all treated as different things. So, closing the video when it's being played shouldn't prevent the possibility of taking the user to the "Show info", as it is a different thing. On the other hand, there is no "Comments section" as a default option, so there is no going back to the main comments list.

I believe a better way would be to either show the comments and replies in the same view (either in the same comments tab of the video or as a separate view like the replies)

I do find the current design quite weird (a sense I think I would have with the entire list of comments in a new page too, I think), and would prefer for the replies to just open under the main comment on the "Show info" page. Maybe there was/is a performance issue with having it all together?

*And I just noticed that this setting seems to be partially broken, with "Enqueue" marked as the default (?) option, even though it behaves as "Always ask" (how I prefer it to be and certainly how I would have set it ages ago when I first installed the app).

[aivelon]

I have quickly thrown together some changes in this branch: https://github.com/vineet3996/NewPipe/tree/comment-replies-overlay-on-comments
I think this way is best since it shows the replies on top of the comments. It will not have any potential performance issues you mentioned above. Changes can be seen in this video: https://filedn.eu/lVAaQLqg1VOYMzxdXQPHpt4/Newpipe-testing/replies-overlay.mkv

[hollownights]

Changes can be seen in this video: https://filedn.eu/lVAaQLqg1VOYMzxdXQPHpt4/Newpipe-testing/replies-overlay.mkv

Oh, please, no, this is way worse. The scrolling is all over the place, with things at times staying more or less at the same place, or going up, or going down...

I know there was some reason to change it, but back in the day, NewPipe (way before the comments' replies were introduced) treated the "Show info" page as two blocks, one for the video player, the other for everything else, including the comments. When you scrolled the comments, only its block would be scrolled, keeping some form of reference point (the video player) to the page. Particularly, I think NewPipe should go back to that AND treat the comments' replies as any collapsible menu is treated, so, you would click the "replies" button (equivalent to the "down arrow" button of a collapsible menu), it would open the comments right below the main comment, and the main comment and also everything else above it would stay at the same location. (And here I'm just commenting how I think it should be, not asking you for anything :)

Particularly, when it comes to the "infinite back-paging" problem, I think you solved it with the "Remove existing comment replies screens before adding new one." part. The rest is another matter, really, so no need to bother with closing the comment that is on screen. If the video is closed, let that specific comment stay on screen; no other changes needed to how the comments section behaves.

[aivelon]

Oh, please, no, this is way worse. The scrolling is all over the place, with things at times staying more or less at the same place, or going up, or going down...

I still think this is better that the existing, simply because the main comments and replies are shown in the same view and have the same scroll and close behaviour. The reason the scrolling is "all over the place" is because that is how it is in the main comments list as well and the reason for that is the video player scrolls away when the user scrolls through the comments. Ideally, the player should remain floating on the top of the screen and the comments should be scrolled through at the bottom in a fixed height view. I think that is what you are referring to here:

I know there was some reason to change it, but back in the day, NewPipe (way before the comments' replies were introduced) treated the "Show info" page as two blocks, one for the video player, the other for everything else, including the comments. When you scrolled the comments, only its block would be scrolled, keeping some form of reference point (the video player) to the page.

Anyways, that is not in the scope of this issue.

I think NewPipe should go back to that AND treat the comments' replies as any collapsible menu is treated, so, you would click the "replies" button (equivalent to the "down arrow" button of a collapsible menu), it would open the comments right below the main comment, and the main comment and also everything else above it would stay at the same location.

I agree that this is the best way since that is how it is done in most comments section UIs (including youtube). I will be looking into that as it looks interesting, but that can be taken up as a new feature later.

I will change the PR to just address the 'infinite-back-paging' problem which is mentioned in this particular issue.

[hollownights]

Ideally, the player should remain floating on the top of the screen and the comments should be scrolled through at the bottom in a fixed height view. I think that is what you are referring to here:

Yes, that's the case.

I will be looking into that as it looks interesting, but that can be taken up as a new feature later.

Sure thing!

I will change the PR to just address the 'infinite-back-paging' problem which is mentioned in this particular issue.

Thank you very much!