Clean cutover — Kotlin off NewPipeExtractor, onto uniffi.strawcore

Brings the Phase U Android-side integration onto a feature branch
where the rust wrapper now bridges to strawcore-core (the new NPE
port) instead of rustypipe.

  * strawApp/build.gradle.kts — JNA dep + cargoBuild + cargoBuildHost
    + uniffiBindgen + the merge/compile task wiring. libs.newpipe
    .extractor dropped.
  * StrawApp.kt — uniffi.strawcore.initLogging(); NewPipe.init() gone
  * 5 ViewModels (Search/VideoDetail/Player/Channel/Subscriptions)
    swapped to call uniffi.strawcore.{search,streamInfo,channelInfo}
  * PlayerScreen + PlaybackService adjusted for the new StreamInfo
    shape (dash_mpd_url / hls_url instead of NPE's manifests)
  * IosSafeHttpDataSource carried forward — strawcore-core gives us
    Android-primary URLs so the iOS cap path is mostly dead code,
    but kept as belt-and-suspenders for the rare HLS-fallback
  * NewPipeDownloader.kt + util/Thumbnails.kt deleted

Files taken wholesale from sulkta branch — the wrapper's UniFFI
surface is identical between sulkta (rustypipe-backed) and the
current Phase-7-bridged-to-strawcore-core code, so Kotlin doesn't
care which extractor is under the hood.

strawApp/build.gradle.kts

@@ -95,7 +95,9 @@ dependencies {
     implementation(libs.coil.network.okhttp)
 
     // NewPipeExtractor (JVM/Android-only) + its OkHttp dep
-    implementation(libs.newpipe.extractor)
+    // libs.newpipe.extractor — REMOVED in Path C-6. Extractor is now strawcore
+    // (Rust + rustypipe via UniFFI). See rust/strawcore/ + the cargoBuild +
+    // uniffiBindgen Gradle tasks below.
     implementation(libs.squareup.okhttp)
 
     // JSON for SponsorBlock + Return YouTube Dislike clients
@@ -110,4 +112,95 @@ dependencies {
     implementation("androidx.media3:media3-session:1.4.1")
     // Guava ListenableFuture support for awaiting MediaController connect.
     implementation("androidx.concurrent:concurrent-futures-ktx:1.2.0")
+
+    // strawcore — Rust YouTube extractor via UniFFI/JNA. Built by the
+    // cargoBuild + uniffiBindgen tasks below; phase U-2+ exposes search /
+    // streamInfo / channelInfo to replace NewPipeExtractor.
+    implementation("net.java.dev.jna:jna:5.14.0@aar")
 }
+
+// =============================================================================
+// Phase U-1 / Path-C-2 — Rust core build glue.
+//
+// Two tasks chain into the Android build:
+//   cargoBuild       — cross-compiles rust/strawcore for the four Android ABIs
+//                      via cargo-ndk and drops the .so files in strawApp/src/main/jniLibs/.
+//   uniffiBindgen    — generates the Kotlin bindings from the freshly-built lib
+//                      into strawApp/src/main/java/uniffi/strawcore/.
+//
+// Both depend on:
+//   - cargo + rustup with the four Android targets installed
+//   - cargo-ndk on PATH
+//   - ANDROID_NDK_HOME pointing at an NDK with the right toolchains
+// All of that lives in the build-host container.
+// =============================================================================
+
+val rustRoot = file("../rust").absolutePath
+val jniLibsDir = file("src/main/jniLibs").absolutePath
+val bindingsDir = file("src/main/java").absolutePath
+
+val cargoHome: String = System.getenv("CARGO_HOME") ?: "/caches/cargo"
+val cargoBin: String = "$cargoHome/bin/cargo"
+val ndkHome: String = System.getenv("ANDROID_NDK_HOME")
+    ?: System.getenv("ANDROID_NDK_ROOT")
+    ?: "/caches/android-sdk/ndk/27.2.12479018"
+// Honor CARGO_TARGET_DIR if set (we redirect it to /caches on build-host
+// because the container's writable rootfs hits 100% before the cross-compile
+// for 4 ABIs finishes). Falls back to the default `<workspace>/target`.
+val cargoTargetDir: String = System.getenv("CARGO_TARGET_DIR")
+    ?: "$rustRoot/target"
+
+val cargoBuild by tasks.registering(Exec::class) {
+    group = "rust"
+    description = "Cross-compile strawcore for all Android ABIs via cargo-ndk."
+    workingDir = file(rustRoot)
+    environment("ANDROID_NDK_HOME", ndkHome)
+    environment("PATH", "$cargoHome/bin:${System.getenv("PATH") ?: ""}")
+    commandLine = listOf(
+        cargoBin, "ndk",
+        "-t", "arm64-v8a",
+        "-t", "armeabi-v7a",
+        "-t", "x86",
+        "-t", "x86_64",
+        "-o", jniLibsDir,
+        "build", "--release", "-p", "strawcore",
+    )
+    standardOutput = System.out
+    errorOutput = System.err
+}
+
+val cargoBuildHost by tasks.registering(Exec::class) {
+    group = "rust"
+    description = "Build host-arch debug strawcore so bindgen can read its UniFFI metadata."
+    workingDir = file(rustRoot)
+    environment("PATH", "$cargoHome/bin:${System.getenv("PATH") ?: ""}")
+    commandLine = listOf(cargoBin, "build", "-p", "strawcore")
+    standardOutput = System.out
+    errorOutput = System.err
+}
+
+val uniffiBindgen by tasks.registering(Exec::class) {
+    group = "rust"
+    description = "Generate Kotlin bindings for strawcore via uniffi-bindgen."
+    dependsOn(cargoBuildHost)
+    workingDir = file(rustRoot)
+    environment("PATH", "$cargoHome/bin:${System.getenv("PATH") ?: ""}")
+    commandLine = listOf(
+        cargoBin, "run", "--quiet", "--bin", "uniffi-bindgen", "--",
+        "generate",
+        "--library", "$cargoTargetDir/debug/libstrawcore.so",
+        "--crate", "strawcore",
+        "--language", "kotlin",
+        "--no-format",
+        "--out-dir", bindingsDir,
+    )
+    standardOutput = System.out
+    errorOutput = System.err
+}
+
+// Make sure Android's JNI-libs merge picks up the freshly built .so files,
+// and Kotlin compilation can resolve the generated bindings.
+tasks.matching { it.name.startsWith("merge") && it.name.endsWith("JniLibFolders") }
+    .configureEach { dependsOn(cargoBuild) }
+tasks.matching { it.name.startsWith("compile") && it.name.endsWith("Kotlin") }
+    .configureEach { dependsOn(uniffiBindgen) }

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/StrawApp.kt

@@ -9,19 +9,15 @@ import android.app.Application
 import com.sulkta.straw.data.History
 import com.sulkta.straw.data.Settings
 import com.sulkta.straw.data.Subscriptions
-import com.sulkta.straw.extractor.NewPipeDownloader
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.NewPipe
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.localization.ContentCountry
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.localization.Localization
 
 class StrawApp : Application() {
     override fun onCreate() {
         super.onCreate()
-        NewPipe.init(
+        // Path C-7: route Rust `log::*` calls into Android logcat under tag
-            NewPipeDownloader.init(),
+        // "strawcore". Without this, every log line emitted from rustypipe /
-            Localization("en", "US"),
+        // strawcore is silently dropped, making playback regressions invisible
-            ContentCountry("US"),
+        // from `adb logcat`.
-        )
+        uniffi.strawcore.initLogging()
         History.init(this)
         Settings.init(this)
         Subscriptions.init(this)

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/extractor/NewPipeDownloader.kt

@@ -1,96 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Sulkta
- * SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
- *
- * Minimal OkHttp-backed implementation of NewPipeExtractor's Downloader.
- * No cookies, no recaptcha handling — anonymous browsing only. Modeled after
- * NewPipe's DownloaderImpl but trimmed down for fork scope.
- */
-
-package com.sulkta.straw.extractor
-
-import com.sulkta.straw.net.NEWPIPE_MAX_BYTES
-import com.sulkta.straw.net.cappedString
-import okhttp3.OkHttpClient
-import okhttp3.RequestBody.Companion.toRequestBody
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.downloader.Downloader
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.downloader.Request
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.downloader.Response
-import java.io.IOException
-import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
-
-class NewPipeDownloader private constructor(
-    private val client: OkHttpClient,
-) : Downloader() {
-
-    override fun execute(request: Request): Response {
-        val httpMethod = request.httpMethod()
-        val url = request.url()
-        val headers = request.headers()
-        val data: ByteArray? = request.dataToSend()
-
-        val requestBody = data?.toRequestBody(null)
-
-        val okBuilder = okhttp3.Request.Builder()
-            .method(httpMethod, requestBody)
-            .url(url)
-
-        // AUD-HIGH: copy NPE headers BEFORE adding our explicit UA so the
-        // explicit UA wins; guard against header values containing \r/\n
-        // which OkHttp's addHeader rejects via IAE (turning a poisoned
-        // response into an app crash).
-        headers.forEach { (name, values) ->
-            if (name.equals("User-Agent", ignoreCase = true)) return@forEach
-            okBuilder.removeHeader(name)
-            values.forEach { value ->
-                runCatching { okBuilder.addHeader(name, value) }
-            }
-        }
-        okBuilder.removeHeader("User-Agent")
-        okBuilder.addHeader("User-Agent", USER_AGENT)
-
-        val okResponse = client.newCall(okBuilder.build()).execute()
-        val body = okResponse.body
-        // AUD-HIGH: bounded read to defend against OOM via gigabyte response.
-        val bodyString = body?.cappedString(NEWPIPE_MAX_BYTES) ?: ""
-        val responseHeaders = okResponse.headers.toMultimap()
-        val latestUrl = okResponse.request.url.toString()
-        if (okResponse.code == 429) {
-            okResponse.close()
-            throw IOException("HTTP 429 — rate limited")
-        }
-        okResponse.close()
-
-        return Response(
-            okResponse.code,
-            okResponse.message,
-            responseHeaders,
-            bodyString,
-            latestUrl,
-        )
-    }
-
-    companion object {
-        const val USER_AGENT =
-            "Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 14) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) " +
-                "Chrome/120.0.0.0 Mobile Safari/537.36"
-
-        @Volatile private var instance: NewPipeDownloader? = null
-
-        fun init(builder: OkHttpClient.Builder? = null): NewPipeDownloader {
-            val client = (builder ?: OkHttpClient.Builder())
-                .connectTimeout(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
-                .readTimeout(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
-                .writeTimeout(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
-                .build()
-            val d = NewPipeDownloader(client)
-            instance = d
-            return d
-        }
-
-        fun get(): NewPipeDownloader = instance
-            ?: error("NewPipeDownloader not initialized — call init() first")
-
-        fun client(): OkHttpClient = get().client
-    }
-}

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/feature/channel/ChannelViewModel.kt

@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 /*
  * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Sulkta
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
+ *
+ * Phase U-4 / Path C-5: ChannelInfo + Videos tab moved to strawcore
+ * (rustypipe). The two separate ChannelInfo.getInfo + ChannelTabInfo.getInfo
+ * calls collapse into one Rust round-trip.
  */
 
 package com.sulkta.straw.feature.channel
@@ -8,19 +12,10 @@ package com.sulkta.straw.feature.channel
 import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModel
 import androidx.lifecycle.viewModelScope
 import com.sulkta.straw.feature.search.StreamItem
-import com.sulkta.straw.util.bestThumbnail
-import kotlinx.coroutines.Dispatchers
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.NewPipe
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.ServiceList
 import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.MutableStateFlow
 import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.StateFlow
 import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.asStateFlow
 import kotlinx.coroutines.launch
-import kotlinx.coroutines.withContext
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.channel.ChannelInfo
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.channel.tabs.ChannelTabInfo
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.channel.tabs.ChannelTabs
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.stream.StreamInfoItem
 
 data class ChannelUiState(
     val loading: Boolean = true,
@@ -40,43 +35,24 @@ class ChannelViewModel : ViewModel() {
         _ui.value = ChannelUiState(loading = true)
         viewModelScope.launch {
             try {
-                val service = NewPipe.getService(ServiceList.YouTube.serviceId)
+                val ch = uniffi.strawcore.channelInfo(channelUrl)
-                val info = withContext(Dispatchers.IO) {
+                val videos = ch.videos.map { v ->
-                    ChannelInfo.getInfo(service, channelUrl)
+                    StreamItem(
+                        url = v.url,
+                        title = v.title.ifBlank { "(no title)" },
+                        uploader = v.uploader,
+                        uploaderUrl = v.uploaderUrl,
+                        thumbnail = v.thumbnail,
+                        durationSeconds = v.durationSeconds,
+                        viewCount = v.viewCount,
+                    )
                 }
-                // AUD-HIGH: pick the Videos tab specifically rather than
-                // info.tabs.firstOrNull() which is YouTube's "Home" (a
-                // curated mix that mostly drops via filterIsInstance).
-                val videosTab = info.tabs.firstOrNull {
-                    it.contentFilters.contains(ChannelTabs.VIDEOS)
-                } ?: info.tabs.firstOrNull()
-                val videos: List<StreamItem> = if (videosTab != null) {
-                    withContext(Dispatchers.IO) {
-                        runCatching {
-                            ChannelTabInfo.getInfo(service, videosTab)
-                                .relatedItems
-                                .filterIsInstance<StreamInfoItem>()
-                                .map {
-                                    StreamItem(
-                                        url = it.url,
-                                        title = it.name ?: "(no title)",
-                                        uploader = it.uploaderName ?: info.name ?: "",
-                                        uploaderUrl = it.uploaderUrl ?: channelUrl,
-                                        thumbnail = bestThumbnail(it.thumbnails),
-                                        durationSeconds = it.duration,
-                                        viewCount = it.viewCount,
-                                    )
-                                }
-                        }.getOrDefault(emptyList())
-                    }
-                } else emptyList()
-
                 _ui.value = ChannelUiState(
                     loading = false,
-                    name = info.name ?: "",
+                    name = ch.name,
-                    subscriberCount = info.subscriberCount,
+                    subscriberCount = ch.subscriberCount,
-                    banner = bestThumbnail(info.banners),
+                    banner = ch.banner,
-                    avatar = bestThumbnail(info.avatars),
+                    avatar = ch.avatar,
                     videos = videos,
                 )
             } catch (t: Throwable) {

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/feature/detail/VideoDetailScreen.kt

@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ import androidx.media3.exoplayer.source.MergingMediaSource
 import androidx.media3.exoplayer.source.ProgressiveMediaSource
 import androidx.media3.ui.PlayerView
 import coil3.compose.AsyncImage
-import com.sulkta.straw.extractor.NewPipeDownloader
+import com.sulkta.straw.net.STRAW_USER_AGENT
 import com.sulkta.straw.util.formatCount
 import com.sulkta.straw.util.formatViews
 import com.sulkta.straw.util.stripHtml
@@ -284,10 +284,8 @@ fun VideoDetailScreen(
                         confirmButton = {
                             Row(horizontalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(8.dp)) {
                                 Button(onClick = {
-                                    val audio = info?.audioStreams
+                                    // info is now uniffi.strawcore.StreamInfo (Path C-4).
-                                        ?.filter { it.content?.isNotBlank() == true }
+                                    val audio = info?.audioOnly?.maxByOrNull { it.bitrate }?.url
-                                        ?.maxByOrNull { it.bitrate ?: 0 }
-                                        ?.content
                                     if (audio != null) {
                                         val id = Downloader.enqueue(context, audio, d.title, DownloadKind.Audio)
                                         val msg = if (id > 0) "audio queued" else "download refused (bad URL)"
@@ -298,14 +296,8 @@ fun VideoDetailScreen(
                                     showDownloadDialog = false
                                 }) { Text("Audio") }
                                 Button(onClick = {
-                                    val video = info?.videoStreams
+                                    val video = info?.combined?.maxByOrNull { it.bitrate }?.url
-                                        ?.filter { it.content?.isNotBlank() == true }
+                                        ?: info?.videoOnly?.maxByOrNull { it.bitrate }?.url
-                                        ?.maxByOrNull { it.bitrate ?: 0 }
-                                        ?.content
-                                        ?: info?.videoOnlyStreams
-                                            ?.filter { it.content?.isNotBlank() == true }
-                                            ?.maxByOrNull { it.bitrate ?: 0 }
-                                            ?.content
                                     if (video != null) {
                                         val id = Downloader.enqueue(context, video, d.title, DownloadKind.Video)
                                         val msg = if (id > 0) "video queued" else "download refused (bad URL)"
@@ -409,16 +401,35 @@ private fun InlinePlayer(
             .build()
     }
 
-    DisposableEffect(Unit) {
+    // Path C-7: surface ExoPlayer failures into UI state. Without this an
-        onDispose { exoPlayer.release() }
+    // HTTP 403 / source error showed as a stuck black box with the pause
+    // controls visible — directly enabled a false-positive in the prior
+    // verification pass.
+    var playbackError by remember { mutableStateOf<String?>(null) }
+    DisposableEffect(exoPlayer) {
+        val listener = object : androidx.media3.common.Player.Listener {
+            override fun onPlayerError(error: androidx.media3.common.PlaybackException) {
+                playbackError =
+                    "${error.errorCodeName}: ${error.message ?: "(no message)"}"
+            }
+        }
+        exoPlayer.addListener(listener)
+        onDispose {
+            exoPlayer.removeListener(listener)
+            exoPlayer.release()
+        }
     }
 
     val resolved = state.resolved
     LaunchedEffect(resolved) {
         val r = resolved ?: return@LaunchedEffect
-        val dataSourceFactory = DefaultHttpDataSource.Factory()
+        // Path C-7: chunk open-ended Range requests so iOS googlevideo URLs
-            .setUserAgent(NewPipeDownloader.USER_AGENT)
+        // don't 403 on first byte. See net/IosSafeHttpDataSource.kt.
-            .setAllowCrossProtocolRedirects(true)
+        val dataSourceFactory = com.sulkta.straw.net.IosSafeHttpDataSource.Factory(
+            DefaultHttpDataSource.Factory()
+                .setUserAgent(STRAW_USER_AGENT)
+                .setAllowCrossProtocolRedirects(true)
+        )
         val source = when {
             r.dashMpdUrl != null -> DashMediaSource.Factory(dataSourceFactory)
                 .createMediaSource(MediaItem.fromUri(r.dashMpdUrl))
@@ -452,6 +463,11 @@ private fun InlinePlayer(
                 color = MaterialTheme.colorScheme.error,
                 modifier = Modifier.padding(16.dp),
             )
+            playbackError != null -> Text(
+                "playback error: $playbackError",
+                color = MaterialTheme.colorScheme.error,
+                modifier = Modifier.padding(16.dp),
+            )
             resolved?.isPlayable != true -> Text(
                 "no playable stream",
                 color = Color.White,

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/feature/detail/VideoDetailViewModel.kt

@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 /*
  * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Sulkta
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
+ *
+ * Phase U-3 / Path C-4: streamInfo() moves from NewPipeExtractor (Java) to
+ * strawcore (Rust + rustypipe via UniFFI). Channel fetch for
+ * `moreFromChannel` stays on NPE until C-5.
  */
 
 package com.sulkta.straw.feature.detail
@@ -13,20 +17,12 @@ import com.sulkta.straw.data.WatchHistoryItem
 import com.sulkta.straw.net.RydClient
 import com.sulkta.straw.net.RydVotes
 import com.sulkta.straw.net.SponsorBlockClient
-import com.sulkta.straw.util.bestThumbnail
 import kotlinx.coroutines.Dispatchers
 import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.MutableStateFlow
 import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.StateFlow
 import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.asStateFlow
 import kotlinx.coroutines.launch
 import kotlinx.coroutines.withContext
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.NewPipe
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.ServiceList
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.channel.ChannelInfo
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.channel.tabs.ChannelTabInfo
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.channel.tabs.ChannelTabs
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.stream.StreamInfo
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.stream.StreamInfoItem
 
 data class VideoDetail(
     val id: String,
@@ -48,8 +44,8 @@ data class VideoDetailUiState(
     val loading: Boolean = true,
     val detail: VideoDetail? = null,
     val error: String? = null,
-    // Stored on success for handoff to player. Not in UI.
+    // Stored on success for handoff to the player + Download dialog. Not in UI.
-    val streamInfo: StreamInfo? = null,
+    val streamInfo: uniffi.strawcore.StreamInfo? = null,
 )
 
 class VideoDetailViewModel : ViewModel() {
@@ -66,11 +62,12 @@ class VideoDetailViewModel : ViewModel() {
         _ui.value = VideoDetailUiState(loading = true)
         viewModelScope.launch {
             try {
-                val info = withContext(Dispatchers.IO) { StreamInfo.getInfo(streamUrl) }
+                // strawcore.streamInfo is suspend on tokio; no Dispatchers.IO wrap.
+                val info = uniffi.strawcore.streamInfo(streamUrl)
                 val videoId = info.id
-                val thumb = bestThumbnail(info.thumbnails)
+                val thumb = info.thumbnail
-                val title = info.name ?: "(no title)"
+                val title = info.title.ifBlank { "(no title)" }
-                val uploader = info.uploaderName ?: ""
+                val uploader = info.uploader
 
                 runCatching {
                     History.get().recordWatch(
@@ -92,51 +89,43 @@ class VideoDetailViewModel : ViewModel() {
                 val sbCount = if (sbCats.isEmpty()) 0 else withContext(Dispatchers.IO) {
                     runCatching { SponsorBlockClient.fetch(videoId, sbCats).size }.getOrDefault(0)
                 }
-                val related = info.relatedItems
-                    ?.filterIsInstance<StreamInfoItem>()
-                    ?.map { it ->
-                        com.sulkta.straw.feature.search.StreamItem(
-                            url = it.url,
-                            title = it.name ?: "(no title)",
-                            uploader = it.uploaderName ?: "",
-                            uploaderUrl = it.uploaderUrl,
-                            thumbnail = bestThumbnail(it.thumbnails),
-                            durationSeconds = it.duration,
-                            viewCount = it.viewCount,
-                        )
-                    } ?: emptyList()
 
-                // More from this channel — anchored to the uploader the user
+                // strawcore returns `related` as List<SearchItem>. Map to the
-                // already chose. Best-effort: empty if the fetch fails so the
+                // Kotlin StreamItem shape used elsewhere.
-                // detail screen still renders. Filters out the current video.
+                val related = info.related.map { r ->
+                    com.sulkta.straw.feature.search.StreamItem(
+                        url = r.url,
+                        title = r.title.ifBlank { "(no title)" },
+                        uploader = r.uploader,
+                        uploaderUrl = r.uploaderUrl,
+                        thumbnail = r.thumbnail,
+                        durationSeconds = r.durationSeconds,
+                        viewCount = r.viewCount,
+                    )
+                }
+
+                // More from this channel via strawcore.channelInfo — one
+                // Rust round-trip returns the channel's Videos tab pre-mapped.
+                val uploaderUrl = info.uploaderUrl
                 val moreFromChannel: List<com.sulkta.straw.feature.search.StreamItem> =
-                    if (info.uploaderUrl.isNullOrBlank()) emptyList()
+                    if (uploaderUrl.isNullOrBlank()) emptyList()
-                    else withContext(Dispatchers.IO) {
+                    else runCatching {
-                        runCatching {
+                        val ch = uniffi.strawcore.channelInfo(uploaderUrl)
-                            val service = NewPipe.getService(ServiceList.YouTube.serviceId)
+                        ch.videos
-                            val ch = ChannelInfo.getInfo(service, info.uploaderUrl)
+                            .filter { it.url != streamUrl }
-                            val videosTab = ch.tabs.firstOrNull {
+                            .take(20)
-                                it.contentFilters.contains(ChannelTabs.VIDEOS)
+                            .map { v ->
-                            } ?: ch.tabs.firstOrNull()
+                                com.sulkta.straw.feature.search.StreamItem(
-                            if (videosTab == null) emptyList()
+                                    url = v.url,
-                            else ChannelTabInfo.getInfo(service, videosTab)
+                                    title = v.title.ifBlank { "(no title)" },
-                                .relatedItems
+                                    uploader = v.uploader.ifBlank { uploader },
-                                .filterIsInstance<StreamInfoItem>()
+                                    uploaderUrl = v.uploaderUrl ?: uploaderUrl,
-                                .filter { it.url != streamUrl }
+                                    thumbnail = v.thumbnail,
-                                .take(20)
+                                    durationSeconds = v.durationSeconds,
-                                .map { si ->
+                                    viewCount = v.viewCount,
-                                    com.sulkta.straw.feature.search.StreamItem(
+                                )
-                                        url = si.url,
+                            }
-                                        title = si.name ?: "(no title)",
+                    }.getOrDefault(emptyList())
-                                        uploader = si.uploaderName ?: uploader,
-                                        uploaderUrl = si.uploaderUrl ?: info.uploaderUrl,
-                                        thumbnail = bestThumbnail(si.thumbnails),
-                                        durationSeconds = si.duration,
-                                        viewCount = si.viewCount,
-                                    )
-                                }
-                        }.getOrDefault(emptyList())
-                    }
 
                 _ui.value = VideoDetailUiState(
                     loading = false,
@@ -146,7 +135,7 @@ class VideoDetailViewModel : ViewModel() {
                         uploader = uploader,
                         uploaderUrl = info.uploaderUrl,
                         viewCount = info.viewCount,
-                        description = info.description?.content ?: "",
+                        description = info.description,
                         thumbnail = thumb,
                         ryd = ryd,
                         sbSegmentCount = sbCount,

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/feature/feed/SubscriptionFeedViewModel.kt

@@ -3,8 +3,12 @@
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
  *
  * Phase Q: aggregate latest videos across all subscribed channels into a
- * single feed. Fans out per-channel ChannelInfo + ChannelTabs.VIDEOS
+ * single feed. Fans out per-channel channelInfo() fetches in parallel,
- * fetches in parallel, merges by view count desc, caps at 200 items.
+ * merges by view count desc, caps at 200 items.
+ *
+ * Path C-5: each per-channel fetch is now ONE strawcore.channelInfo()
+ * call instead of two NewPipeExtractor round-trips (ChannelInfo.getInfo +
+ * ChannelTabInfo.getInfo). Halves the network work for the feed.
  *
  * Audit fixes (2026-05-24 pass #2):
  *   HIGH-6: cancel any prior in-flight refresh when a new one starts, cap
@@ -20,9 +24,7 @@ import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModel
 import androidx.lifecycle.viewModelScope
 import com.sulkta.straw.data.Subscriptions
 import com.sulkta.straw.feature.search.StreamItem
-import com.sulkta.straw.util.bestThumbnail
 import com.sulkta.straw.util.strawLogW
-import kotlinx.coroutines.Dispatchers
 import kotlinx.coroutines.Job
 import kotlinx.coroutines.async
 import kotlinx.coroutines.awaitAll
@@ -34,14 +36,7 @@ import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.update
 import kotlinx.coroutines.launch
 import kotlinx.coroutines.sync.Semaphore
 import kotlinx.coroutines.sync.withPermit
-import kotlinx.coroutines.withContext
 import kotlinx.coroutines.withTimeoutOrNull
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.NewPipe
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.ServiceList
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.channel.ChannelInfo
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.channel.tabs.ChannelTabInfo
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.channel.tabs.ChannelTabs
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.stream.StreamInfoItem
 
 data class SubscriptionFeedUiState(
     val loading: Boolean = false,
@@ -82,55 +77,46 @@ class SubscriptionFeedViewModel : ViewModel() {
         _ui.update { it.copy(loading = true, error = null) }
         inFlight = viewModelScope.launch {
             try {
-                val items = withContext(Dispatchers.IO) {
+                val perChannelMax = 5
-                    val service = NewPipe.getService(ServiceList.YouTube.serviceId)
+                val gate = Semaphore(parallelism)
-                    val perChannelMax = 5
+                val items = coroutineScope {
-                    val gate = Semaphore(parallelism)
+                    val deferreds = channels.map { ch ->
-                    coroutineScope {
+                        async {
-                        val deferreds = channels.map { ch ->
+                            gate.withPermit {
-                            async {
+                                withTimeoutOrNull(perChannelTimeoutMs) {
-                                gate.withPermit {
+                                    runCatching {
-                                    withTimeoutOrNull(perChannelTimeoutMs) {
+                                        val info = uniffi.strawcore.channelInfo(ch.url)
-                                        runCatching {
+                                        info.videos
-                                            val info = ChannelInfo.getInfo(service, ch.url)
+                                            .take(perChannelMax)
-                                            val tab = info.tabs.firstOrNull {
+                                            .map { v ->
-                                                it.contentFilters.contains(ChannelTabs.VIDEOS)
+                                                StreamItem(
-                                            } ?: info.tabs.firstOrNull()
+                                                    url = v.url,
-                                                ?: return@runCatching emptyList<StreamItem>()
+                                                    title = v.title.ifBlank { "(no title)" },
-                                            ChannelTabInfo.getInfo(service, tab)
+                                                    uploader = v.uploader.ifBlank { ch.name },
-                                                .relatedItems
+                                                    uploaderUrl = v.uploaderUrl ?: ch.url,
-                                                .filterIsInstance<StreamInfoItem>()
+                                                    thumbnail = v.thumbnail,
-                                                .take(perChannelMax)
+                                                    durationSeconds = v.durationSeconds,
-                                                .map { si ->
+                                                    viewCount = v.viewCount,
-                                                    StreamItem(
+                                                )
-                                                        url = si.url,
+                                            }
-                                                        title = si.name ?: "(no title)",
+                                    }.onFailure {
-                                                        uploader = si.uploaderName ?: ch.name,
+                                        strawLogW("StrawFeed") { "channel fetch failed for ${ch.url}: ${it.message}" }
-                                                        uploaderUrl = si.uploaderUrl ?: ch.url,
+                                    }.getOrDefault(emptyList())
-                                                        thumbnail = bestThumbnail(si.thumbnails),
+                                } ?: run {
-                                                        durationSeconds = si.duration,
+                                    strawLogW("StrawFeed") { "channel fetch timed out: ${ch.url}" }
-                                                        viewCount = si.viewCount,
+                                    emptyList()
-                                                    )
-                                                }
-                                        }.onFailure {
-                                            strawLogW("StrawFeed") { "channel fetch failed for ${ch.url}: ${it.message}" }
-                                        }.getOrDefault(emptyList())
-                                    } ?: run {
-                                        strawLogW("StrawFeed") { "channel fetch timed out: ${ch.url}" }
-                                        emptyList()
-                                    }
                                 }
                             }
                         }
-                        deferreds.awaitAll()
                     }
-                        .flatten()
+                    deferreds.awaitAll()
-                        // No reliable upload-timestamp from extractor's StreamInfoItem
-                        // in all cases — sort by view count desc as a soft proxy for
-                        // recency-popularity within the recent window.
-                        .sortedByDescending { it.viewCount }
-                        .take(200)
                 }
+                    .flatten()
+                    // No reliable upload-timestamp on the search-item shape — sort
+                    // by view count desc as a soft proxy for recency-popularity
+                    // within the recent window.
+                    .sortedByDescending { it.viewCount }
+                    .take(200)
                 _ui.update {
                     SubscriptionFeedUiState(
                         loading = false,

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/feature/player/PlaybackService.kt

@@ -50,7 +50,8 @@ import androidx.media3.exoplayer.source.DefaultMediaSourceFactory
 import androidx.media3.session.MediaSession
 import androidx.media3.session.MediaSessionService
 import com.sulkta.straw.StrawActivity
-import com.sulkta.straw.extractor.NewPipeDownloader
+import com.sulkta.straw.net.IosSafeHttpDataSource
+import com.sulkta.straw.net.STRAW_USER_AGENT
 
 @UnstableApi
 class PlaybackService : MediaSessionService() {
@@ -62,9 +63,14 @@ class PlaybackService : MediaSessionService() {
         super.onCreate()
         ensureChannel()
 
-        val httpFactory = DefaultHttpDataSource.Factory()
+        // Path C-7: wrap in IosSafeHttpDataSource so ExoPlayer's open-ended
-            .setUserAgent(NewPipeDownloader.USER_AGENT)
+        // Range requests get chunked into bounded reads. iOS-bound googlevideo
-            .setAllowCrossProtocolRedirects(true)
+        // URLs 403 on `Range: bytes=N-` but accept `Range: bytes=N-M`.
+        val httpFactory = IosSafeHttpDataSource.Factory(
+            DefaultHttpDataSource.Factory()
+                .setUserAgent(STRAW_USER_AGENT)
+                .setAllowCrossProtocolRedirects(true)
+        )
         val mediaSourceFactory = DefaultMediaSourceFactory(this)
             .setDataSourceFactory(httpFactory)
 

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/feature/player/PlayerScreen.kt

@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ import androidx.media3.exoplayer.hls.HlsMediaSource
 import androidx.media3.exoplayer.source.MergingMediaSource
 import androidx.media3.exoplayer.source.ProgressiveMediaSource
 import androidx.media3.ui.PlayerView
-import com.sulkta.straw.extractor.NewPipeDownloader
+import com.sulkta.straw.net.STRAW_USER_AGENT
 import com.sulkta.straw.net.SbSegment
 import com.sulkta.straw.util.strawLogI
 import kotlinx.coroutines.delay
@@ -114,6 +114,20 @@ fun PlayerScreen(
         MediaSession.Builder(context, exoPlayer).build()
     }
 
+    // Path C-7: surface ExoPlayer failures so they don't read as "stuck spinner"
+    // (Audit Finding 2). Posts to playbackError state which the UI renders.
+    var playbackError by remember { mutableStateOf<String?>(null) }
+    DisposableEffect(exoPlayer) {
+        val listener = object : androidx.media3.common.Player.Listener {
+            override fun onPlayerError(error: androidx.media3.common.PlaybackException) {
+                playbackError =
+                    "${error.errorCodeName}: ${error.message ?: "(no message)"}"
+            }
+        }
+        exoPlayer.addListener(listener)
+        onDispose { exoPlayer.removeListener(listener) }
+    }
+
     DisposableEffect(Unit) {
         onDispose {
             mediaSession.release()
@@ -168,9 +182,13 @@ fun PlayerScreen(
 
     LaunchedEffect(resolved) {
         val r = resolved ?: return@LaunchedEffect
-        val dataSourceFactory = DefaultHttpDataSource.Factory()
+        // Path C-7: chunk open-ended Range requests so iOS googlevideo URLs
-            .setUserAgent(NewPipeDownloader.USER_AGENT)
+        // don't 403 on first byte.
-            .setAllowCrossProtocolRedirects(true)
+        val dataSourceFactory = com.sulkta.straw.net.IosSafeHttpDataSource.Factory(
+            DefaultHttpDataSource.Factory()
+                .setUserAgent(STRAW_USER_AGENT)
+                .setAllowCrossProtocolRedirects(true)
+        )
 
         val source = when {
             r.dashMpdUrl != null -> DashMediaSource.Factory(dataSourceFactory)
@@ -251,6 +269,12 @@ fun PlayerScreen(
                 modifier = Modifier.padding(16.dp),
             )
 
+            playbackError != null -> Text(
+                "playback error: $playbackError",
+                color = MaterialTheme.colorScheme.error,
+                modifier = Modifier.padding(16.dp),
+            )
+
             resolved?.isPlayable != true -> Text(
                 "no playable stream found",
                 modifier = Modifier.padding(16.dp),

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/feature/player/PlayerViewModel.kt

@@ -1,13 +1,16 @@
 /*
  * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Sulkta
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
+ *
+ * Phase U-3 / Path C-4: extractor moved from NewPipeExtractor (Java) to
+ * strawcore (Rust + rustypipe via UniFFI). PlayerScreen still calls
+ * vm.resolve(url) the same way — the engine underneath flipped.
  */
 
 package com.sulkta.straw.feature.player
 
 import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModel
 import androidx.lifecycle.viewModelScope
-import com.sulkta.straw.data.MaxResolution
 import com.sulkta.straw.data.Settings
 import com.sulkta.straw.net.SbSegment
 import com.sulkta.straw.net.SponsorBlockClient
@@ -17,7 +20,6 @@ import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.StateFlow
 import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.asStateFlow
 import kotlinx.coroutines.launch
 import kotlinx.coroutines.withContext
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.stream.StreamInfo
 
 data class ResolvedPlayback(
     val title: String,
@@ -48,8 +50,11 @@ class PlayerViewModel : ViewModel() {
         _ui.value = PlayerUiState(loading = true)
         viewModelScope.launch {
             try {
-                val info = withContext(Dispatchers.IO) { StreamInfo.getInfo(streamUrl) }
+                // strawcore.streamInfo is a suspend fun running on the tokio
+                // runtime baked into libstrawcore.so — no Dispatchers.IO needed.
+                val info = uniffi.strawcore.streamInfo(streamUrl)
                 val videoId = info.id
+
                 val sbCategories = Settings.get().sbCategories.value.map { it.key }
                 val segments = if (sbCategories.isEmpty()) {
                     emptyList()
@@ -61,32 +66,24 @@ class PlayerViewModel : ViewModel() {
                 }
 
                 val maxRes = Settings.get().maxResolution.value.ceiling
-                fun heightOf(q: String?): Int =
-                    q?.removeSuffix("p")?.takeWhile { it.isDigit() }?.toIntOrNull() ?: 0
 
-                // Audit HIGH-8: when no stream is under the resolution ceiling
+                // Audit HIGH-8 carry-over: filter by max resolution but fall
-                // (e.g. user picked 144p but the video only has 360p+), fall
+                // back to lowest available if the ceiling excludes everything.
-                // back to the lowest-resolution available instead of returning
+                fun pickVideo(streams: List<uniffi.strawcore.VideoStreamItem>): String? {
-                // null and showing a black-screen player.
+                    if (streams.isEmpty()) return null
-                fun pickVideo(streams: List<org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.stream.VideoStream>?): String? {
+                    val filtered = streams.filter { it.height <= maxRes }
-                    if (streams.isNullOrEmpty()) return null
+                    val pool = filtered.ifEmpty { streams }
-                    val withContent = streams.filter { it.content?.isNotBlank() == true }
+                    return pool.maxByOrNull { it.bitrate }?.url
-                    val filtered = withContent.filter { heightOf(it.getResolution()) <= maxRes }
-                    val pool = filtered.ifEmpty { withContent }
-                    return pool.maxByOrNull { it.bitrate ?: 0 }?.content
                 }
 
-                val combined = pickVideo(info.videoStreams)
+                val combined = pickVideo(info.combined)
-                val videoOnly = pickVideo(info.videoOnlyStreams)
+                val videoOnly = pickVideo(info.videoOnly)
-                val audioOnly = info.audioStreams
+                val audioOnly = info.audioOnly.maxByOrNull { it.bitrate }?.url
-                    ?.filter { it.content?.isNotBlank() == true }
-                    ?.maxByOrNull { it.bitrate ?: 0 }
-                    ?.content
 
                 _ui.value = PlayerUiState(
                     loading = false,
                     resolved = ResolvedPlayback(
-                        title = info.name ?: "",
+                        title = info.title,
                         videoUrl = videoOnly,
                         audioUrl = audioOnly,
                         combinedUrl = combined,

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/feature/search/SearchViewModel.kt

@@ -8,17 +8,10 @@ package com.sulkta.straw.feature.search
 import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModel
 import androidx.lifecycle.viewModelScope
 import com.sulkta.straw.data.History
-import com.sulkta.straw.util.bestThumbnail
-import kotlinx.coroutines.Dispatchers
 import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.MutableStateFlow
 import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.StateFlow
 import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.asStateFlow
 import kotlinx.coroutines.launch
-import kotlinx.coroutines.withContext
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.NewPipe
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.ServiceList
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.search.SearchInfo
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.stream.StreamInfoItem
 
 data class SearchUiState(
     val query: String = "",
@@ -52,7 +45,23 @@ class SearchViewModel : ViewModel() {
         _ui.value = _ui.value.copy(loading = true, error = null, results = emptyList())
         viewModelScope.launch {
             try {
-                val items = withContext(Dispatchers.IO) { search(q) }
+                // Phase U-2 / Path C-3: rustypipe via UniFFI. The bindgen-generated
+                // `search()` is already a suspend fun running on the tokio runtime
+                // baked into libstrawcore.so — no Dispatchers.IO wrapper needed,
+                // the JNI call returns to us on the caller dispatcher when the
+                // future completes.
+                val rustItems = uniffi.strawcore.search(q)
+                val items = rustItems.map { r ->
+                    StreamItem(
+                        url = r.url,
+                        title = r.title.ifBlank { "(no title)" },
+                        uploader = r.uploader,
+                        uploaderUrl = r.uploaderUrl,
+                        thumbnail = r.thumbnail,
+                        durationSeconds = r.durationSeconds,
+                        viewCount = r.viewCount,
+                    )
+                }
                 _ui.value = _ui.value.copy(loading = false, results = items)
             } catch (t: Throwable) {
                 _ui.value = _ui.value.copy(
@@ -62,23 +71,4 @@ class SearchViewModel : ViewModel() {
             }
         }
     }
-
-    private fun search(query: String): List<StreamItem> {
-        val service = NewPipe.getService(ServiceList.YouTube.serviceId)
-        val qh = service.searchQHFactory.fromQuery(query, emptyList(), "")
-        val info = SearchInfo.getInfo(service, qh)
-        return info.relatedItems
-            .filterIsInstance<StreamInfoItem>()
-            .map {
-                StreamItem(
-                    url = it.url,
-                    title = it.name ?: "(no title)",
-                    uploader = it.uploaderName ?: "",
-                    uploaderUrl = it.uploaderUrl,
-                    thumbnail = bestThumbnail(it.thumbnails),
-                    durationSeconds = it.duration,
-                    viewCount = it.viewCount,
-                )
-            }
-    }
 }

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/net/Http.kt

@@ -13,9 +13,34 @@
 
 package com.sulkta.straw.net
 
+import okhttp3.OkHttpClient
 import okhttp3.ResponseBody
 import okio.Buffer
 import java.io.IOException
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
+
+/**
+ * Path C-6 / Phase U-5: USER_AGENT + shared OkHttpClient that previously
+ * lived on NewPipeDownloader. After ripping NewPipeExtractor, the RYD +
+ * SponsorBlock + ExoPlayer HTTP factories still need both. One shared
+ * client is fine.
+ */
+const val STRAW_USER_AGENT: String =
+    "Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 14) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/124.0.0.0 Mobile Safari/537.36 Straw/1.0"
+
+@Volatile
+private var sharedClient: OkHttpClient? = null
+
+fun strawHttpClient(): OkHttpClient =
+    sharedClient ?: synchronized(STRAW_USER_AGENT) {
+        sharedClient ?: OkHttpClient.Builder()
+            .connectTimeout(15, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+            .readTimeout(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+            .followRedirects(true)
+            .followSslRedirects(true)
+            .build()
+            .also { sharedClient = it }
+    }
 
 fun ResponseBody.cappedString(maxBytes: Long): String {
     val cl = contentLength()

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/net/IosSafeHttpDataSource.kt

@@ -0,0 +1,173 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Sulkta
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
+ *
+ * Path C-7 (post-audit): wrap DefaultHttpDataSource so each open() that
+ * lacks a bounded length turns into a sequence of bounded Range requests
+ * (default 1 MiB chunks).
+ *
+ * Background: rustypipe's iOS InnerTube client returns pre-signed
+ * googlevideo URLs. Those URLs reject an open-ended `Range: bytes=N-`
+ * with HTTP 403 — they only accept bounded `Range: bytes=N-M`. ExoPlayer
+ * issues open-ended Range requests by default, which made every non-HLS
+ * iOS-origin video 403 on first byte. This shim makes ExoPlayer
+ * iOS-shaped without touching media-source selection.
+ *
+ * Verified via 2026-05-24 emulator audit (memory/audit-straw-vc16-emulator-2026-05-24.md):
+ *   curl -r 0-1023  → 206 OK
+ *   curl -H "Range: bytes=0-" → 403  (any UA)
+ *   curl no Range → 403
+ */
+
+package com.sulkta.straw.net
+
+import android.util.Log
+import androidx.media3.common.C
+import androidx.media3.common.util.UnstableApi
+import androidx.media3.datasource.DataSpec
+import androidx.media3.datasource.HttpDataSource
+
+private const val TAG = "IosSafeDS"
+
+@UnstableApi
+class IosSafeHttpDataSource(
+    private val inner: HttpDataSource,
+    private val chunkBytes: Long = DEFAULT_CHUNK_BYTES,
+) : HttpDataSource by inner {
+
+    /** The original (caller-supplied) spec — kept so we can compute the next chunk. */
+    private var originalSpec: DataSpec? = null
+
+    /** How many bytes have been read since the caller's open(). */
+    private var totalRead: Long = 0
+
+    /** Bytes left in the current inner-open chunk. -1 = unknown end. */
+    private var chunkRemaining: Long = 0
+
+    override fun open(dataSpec: DataSpec): Long {
+        // When length is set, respect it but still cap the first inner-open to
+        // chunkBytes. When length is unset, request a chunk and we'll roll
+        // forward on subsequent reads.
+        val requestLen = if (dataSpec.length == C.LENGTH_UNSET.toLong()) {
+            chunkBytes
+        } else {
+            minOf(dataSpec.length, chunkBytes)
+        }
+        // NOTE: DataSpec.subrange(offset, length) ADDS offset to the existing
+        // position — so subrange(position, length) doubles the position. Use
+        // buildUpon().setLength(...) which preserves position and only bounds
+        // the byte length. This is what makes ExoPlayer's first Range header
+        // come out as `bytes=N-M` (closed, accepted by googlevideo iOS URLs)
+        // instead of `bytes=N-` (open, rejected with 403).
+        val bounded = dataSpec.buildUpon().setLength(requestLen).build()
+        // Surface itag + mime from query so we can tell video vs audio apart in logs.
+        val u = dataSpec.uri
+        val itag = u.getQueryParameter("itag")
+        val mime = u.getQueryParameter("mime")
+        Log.i(
+            TAG,
+            "open: pos=${bounded.position} len=${bounded.length} " +
+                "(origLen=${dataSpec.length}, chunkBytes=$chunkBytes) " +
+                "itag=$itag mime=$mime host=${u.host}",
+        )
+        Log.i(TAG, "open url=${u.toString()}")
+        originalSpec = dataSpec
+        totalRead = 0
+        // inner.open() returns the BOUNDED chunk's length. Track it so we
+        // know when to roll to the next chunk.
+        chunkRemaining = try {
+            inner.open(bounded)
+        } catch (t: Throwable) {
+            Log.w(TAG, "open failed: ${t.javaClass.simpleName}: ${t.message}")
+            throw t
+        }
+        Log.i(TAG, "open: inner returned chunkRemaining=$chunkRemaining")
+        // Report the original (potentially unbounded) length to the caller —
+        // ExoPlayer cares about the overall length, not our internal chunking.
+        return if (dataSpec.length == C.LENGTH_UNSET.toLong()) {
+            C.LENGTH_UNSET.toLong()
+        } else {
+            dataSpec.length
+        }
+    }
+
+    override fun read(buffer: ByteArray, offset: Int, length: Int): Int {
+        if (length == 0) return 0
+        // Need a fresh chunk?
+        if (chunkRemaining == 0L) {
+            val spec = originalSpec ?: return C.RESULT_END_OF_INPUT
+            inner.close()
+            val nextPos = spec.position + totalRead
+            val remainingOverall = if (spec.length == C.LENGTH_UNSET.toLong()) {
+                Long.MAX_VALUE
+            } else {
+                spec.length - totalRead
+            }
+            if (remainingOverall <= 0L) return C.RESULT_END_OF_INPUT
+            val nextLen = remainingOverall.coerceAtMost(chunkBytes)
+            // Same as in open() — use buildUpon().setPosition/setLength rather
+            // than subrange() so the absolute position stays meaningful.
+            val nextSpec = spec.buildUpon()
+                .setPosition(nextPos)
+                .setLength(nextLen)
+                .build()
+            chunkRemaining = inner.open(nextSpec)
+        }
+        // Cap the read against what's left in this chunk.
+        val toRead = if (chunkRemaining < 0L) {
+            // Inner doesn't know its end either; just read what was asked.
+            length
+        } else {
+            length.toLong().coerceAtMost(chunkRemaining).toInt()
+        }
+        val read = inner.read(buffer, offset, toRead)
+        if (read != C.RESULT_END_OF_INPUT) {
+            totalRead += read.toLong()
+            if (chunkRemaining > 0L) chunkRemaining -= read.toLong()
+            // If chunkRemaining hits 0 here, the next read() call will roll
+            // to the next chunk via the block at the top.
+        } else if (chunkRemaining > 0L) {
+            // Inner ran out before its advertised end. Force chunk roll on
+            // next read() so we re-open at the next position.
+            chunkRemaining = 0L
+        }
+        return read
+    }
+
+    override fun close() {
+        try {
+            inner.close()
+        } finally {
+            originalSpec = null
+            totalRead = 0
+            chunkRemaining = 0
+        }
+    }
+
+    /** Factory: wrap any inner HttpDataSource.Factory. */
+    @UnstableApi
+    class Factory(
+        private val innerFactory: HttpDataSource.Factory,
+        private val chunkBytes: Long = DEFAULT_CHUNK_BYTES,
+    ) : HttpDataSource.Factory {
+        override fun createDataSource(): HttpDataSource =
+            IosSafeHttpDataSource(innerFactory.createDataSource(), chunkBytes)
+
+        override fun setDefaultRequestProperties(
+            defaultRequestProperties: Map<String, String>,
+        ): HttpDataSource.Factory {
+            innerFactory.setDefaultRequestProperties(defaultRequestProperties)
+            return this
+        }
+    }
+
+    companion object {
+        // YT's iOS-bound googlevideo URLs accept bounded `Range: bytes=N-M`
+        // requests up to roughly 900 KiB before flipping to 403. Empirically
+        // measured 2026-05-24 on a test network: bytes=0-917503 (~896 KiB) → 206;
+        // bytes=0-999999 (~977 KiB) → 403. 512 KiB gives a 2× safety margin —
+        // small enough to survive future tightening, large enough to keep the
+        // open() round-trip count tolerable for a long video.
+        const val DEFAULT_CHUNK_BYTES: Long = 512L * 1024
+    }
+}

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/net/RydClient.kt

@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 
 package com.sulkta.straw.net
 
-import com.sulkta.straw.extractor.NewPipeDownloader
 import com.sulkta.straw.util.strawLogD
 import com.sulkta.straw.util.strawLogW
 import kotlinx.serialization.Serializable
@@ -34,11 +33,11 @@ object RydClient {
         strawLogD(TAG) { "fetch start: $videoId → $url" }
         val req = Request.Builder()
             .url(url)
-            .header("User-Agent", NewPipeDownloader.USER_AGENT)
+            .header("User-Agent", STRAW_USER_AGENT)
             .header("Accept", "application/json")
             .build()
         return runCatching {
-            NewPipeDownloader.client().newCall(req).execute().use { r ->
+            strawHttpClient().newCall(req).execute().use { r ->
                 val code = r.code
                 // AUD-HIGH: bounded body read to defend against OOM.
                 val bodyStr = r.body?.cappedString(RYD_MAX_BYTES) ?: ""

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/net/SponsorBlockClient.kt

@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 
 package com.sulkta.straw.net
 
-import com.sulkta.straw.extractor.NewPipeDownloader
 import com.sulkta.straw.util.strawLogD
 import com.sulkta.straw.util.strawLogW
 import kotlinx.serialization.Serializable
@@ -47,11 +46,11 @@ object SponsorBlockClient {
         strawLogD(TAG) { "fetch: videoId=$videoId prefix=$prefix url=$urlStr" }
         val req = Request.Builder()
             .url(urlStr)
-            .header("User-Agent", NewPipeDownloader.USER_AGENT)
+            .header("User-Agent", STRAW_USER_AGENT)
             .header("Accept", "application/json")
             .build()
         return runCatching {
-            NewPipeDownloader.client().newCall(req).execute().use { r ->
+            strawHttpClient().newCall(req).execute().use { r ->
                 val code = r.code
                 // AUD-HIGH: bounded body read.
                 val bodyStr = r.body?.cappedString(SB_MAX_BYTES) ?: ""

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/util/Thumbnails.kt

@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Sulkta
- * SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
- *
- * NewPipeExtractor returns thumbnails as a List<Image> with width/height
- * fields. Calling .firstOrNull() picks the smallest (the list is sorted
- * ascending) — which gave us pixelated thumbnails. This helper picks the
- * largest by pixel area instead.
- */
-
-package com.sulkta.straw.util
-
-import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.Image
-
-fun bestThumbnail(images: List<Image>?): String? {
-    if (images.isNullOrEmpty()) return null
-    return images
-        .maxByOrNull {
-            val w = it.width.takeIf { v -> v > 0 } ?: 0
-            val h = it.height.takeIf { v -> v > 0 } ?: 0
-            w.toLong() * h.toLong()
-        }
-        ?.url
-}