From 830c5da3c3684f4a6df29bfa82bdd861d10d39f9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Joshua Wakefield <joshua@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2026 14:36:32 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Allow playback without a YouTube Premium account

Remove the client-side Premium gate from the audio engine. Free and
signed-out users can now stream; the stream server already supports them
via the existing ?ephemeral=1 session-cache path.
---
 src/lib/audio-engine.ts | 50 +++++------------------------------------
 1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 44 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/lib/audio-engine.ts b/src/lib/audio-engine.ts
index 4ec8a0f..bee2028 100644
--- a/src/lib/audio-engine.ts
+++ b/src/lib/audio-engine.ts
@@ -13,9 +13,7 @@ import { prefetchStream, saveTrackMeta, streamUrlFor } from "@/lib/stream";
 import { AudioGraph, canSelectOutputDevice } from "@/lib/audio-graph";
 import { usePlaybackStore, type QueueTrack } from "@/lib/store/playback";
 import { eqGains, usePlaybackSettings } from "@/lib/store/playback-settings";
-import { usePremiumStore } from "@/lib/store/premium";
 import { useSettingsStore } from "@/lib/store/settings";
-import { openPremiumGate } from "@/lib/store/premium-gate";
 import { resolveStreamId, useTrackSourceStore } from "@/lib/store/track-source";
 import { pickThumbnail } from "@/components/shared/thumbnail";
 import { IS_MAC } from "@/lib/platform";
@@ -232,8 +230,7 @@ export function useAudioEngine() {
 
       if (!pendingRef.current && remaining <= cf + CROSSFADE_PRELOAD_LEAD_SEC) {
         const standby = standbyRef.current;
-        // Same gate as the resolve effect: no stream without Premium.
-        if (!standby || usePremiumStore.getState().status !== "premium") {
+        if (!standby) {
           return;
         }
         const p: PendingNext = {
@@ -438,13 +435,6 @@ export function useAudioEngine() {
     videoId ? resolveStreamId(videoId, s.byVideoId) : undefined,
   );
 
-  // Reactive Premium check for the gate below. Subscribing (rather than
-  // calling isPremium() inside the effect) makes the resolve effect
-  // re-run when the status lands after sign-in / the launch-time probe.
-  // Without this, a track gated during the "still checking" window would
-  // sit silent until the user re-picked it.
-  const premiumOk = usePremiumStore((s) => s.status === "premium");
-
   useEffect(() => {
     const el = audioRef.current;
     if (!el) return;
@@ -484,25 +474,6 @@ export function useAudioEngine() {
       usePlaybackStore.getState().setStreamUrl(undefined);
       return;
     }
-    // Premium gate: signed-out / Free accounts browse but don't stream.
-    // Every entry path (track clicks, media keys, tray, floating window,
-    // restored queues) funnels through this effect, so one check here
-    // guarantees no yt-dlp spawn and no cache write happens without
-    // Premium. A deliberate play attempt (playing=true) gets the
-    // explainer dialog; the silent preload of a restored queue
-    // (playing=false) just parks the track.
-    if (!premiumOk) {
-      el.removeAttribute("src");
-      el.load();
-      const store = usePlaybackStore.getState();
-      store.setStreamUrl(undefined);
-      store.setStatus("idle");
-      if (store.playing) {
-        store.setPlaying(false);
-        openPremiumGate();
-      }
-      return;
-    }
     // Drop the previous track's src immediately. Otherwise a paused→playing
     // transition committed together with the track change (playNow/goTo set
     // playing: true) makes the [playing] effect below re-play the OLD src
@@ -582,25 +553,16 @@ export function useAudioEngine() {
     // videoId/streamVideoId alone wouldn't change. Repeating a *single*
     // track (repeat-one, or repeat-all on a 1-track queue) keeps the same
     // index, so the store replays it via pendingSeek instead — see
-    // `next()` in store/playback.ts. `premiumOk` so that gaining Premium
-    // (sign-in, status re-check) re-resolves a track the gate parked.
-    // `retryNonce` so the error handler can force a fresh stream-URL fetch
-    // for the current track after a transient failure without changing id.
-  }, [streamVideoId, videoId, index, premiumOk, retryNonce]);
+    // `next()` in store/playback.ts. `retryNonce` so the error handler
+    // can force a fresh stream-URL fetch for the current track after a
+    // transient failure without changing id.
+  }, [streamVideoId, videoId, index, retryNonce]);
 
   // Play / pause follow store.
   const playing = usePlaybackStore((s) => s.playing);
   useEffect(() => {
     const el = audioRef.current;
     if (!el) return;
-    if (playing && !premiumOk) {
-      // Resume attempts (play button, Space, SMTC play) on a gated track
-      // never reach the resolve effect (its deps don't include
-      // `playing`), so intercept them here.
-      usePlaybackStore.getState().setPlaying(false);
-      openPremiumGate();
-      return;
-    }
     if (!el.src) return;
     if (playing) {
       graphRef.current?.resume();
@@ -614,7 +576,7 @@ export function useAudioEngine() {
       cancelFade();
       el.pause();
     }
-  }, [playing, premiumOk]);
+  }, [playing]);
 
   // Volume / mute follow store.
   const volume = usePlaybackStore((s) => s.volume);