i just find the youtube login process terrible. my browser doesn’t persist cookies, so i have to re-login every day. not problematic for most sites that use a single login form (like HN) and play nice with a password manager.

but for Youtube its:

1. go to login page.

2. enter username, hit enter.

3. enter password, hit enter.

4. at the 2FA page hunt for the “other method” option and click it.

5. select “authenticate with Google Authenticator” (i.e. OTP).

6. enter TOTP code, hit enter

7. select either “use this method in the future” or “no” — they don’t take effect because no cookies.

sure, it’s self-inflicted on behalf of me not persisting cookies. but a 7 step login process? get real.

3rd party clients like this solve that. in theory i could also whitelist youtube cookies to be specifically persisted, but figuring out how to do that would be a lot more troublesome than just using a 3rd party client.