YouTube TV Installer for SteamDeck with uBlock and SponsorBlock

youtube_tv_installer.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

# ─── PREREQUISITES ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
# 1) Ensure flatpak is available
if ! command -v flatpak >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  echo "Error: flatpak is not installed. Please install flatpak and try again."
  exit 1
fi

# 2) Ensure Firefox is installed via Flatpak
if ! flatpak info org.mozilla.firefox >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  read -rp "Firefox Flatpak not found. Install org.mozilla.firefox from Flathub now? [Y/n]: " REPLY
  if [[ $REPLY =~ ^[Nn]$ ]]; then
    echo "Firefox is required to continue. Aborting."
    exit 1
  fi
  echo "Installing org.mozilla.firefox from Flathub..."
  flatpak install -y flathub org.mozilla.firefox
fi

# ─── CONFIG ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
NAME="YouTube TV"
PROFILE_NAME="youtube_leanback"
PROFILE_DIR="$HOME/.var/app/org.mozilla.firefox/.mozilla/firefox/$PROFILE_NAME"
DESKTOP_FILE_KIOSK="$HOME/.local/share/applications/${PROFILE_NAME}-firefox-kiosk.desktop"
DESKTOP_FILE_NO_KIOSK="$HOME/.local/share/applications/${PROFILE_NAME}-firefox.desktop"
FLATPAK_CMD="flatpak run org.mozilla.firefox"
UA='Mozilla/5.0 (PS4; Leanback Shell) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/65.0 LeanbackShell/01.00.01.75 Sony PS4/ (PS4, , no, CH)'
URL="https://www.youtube.com/tv#/?env_forceFullAnimation=true&env_isLimitedMemory=false&env_disableStartupDialog=true"

# Curl options: retry up to 3×, 5 s delay, fail on HTTP errors,
# 10 s connect timeout, 60 s overall timeout
CURL_OPTS="--retry 3 --retry-delay 5 --fail --connect-timeout 10 --max-time 60"

echo "Installing $NAME webapp..."

# ─── 1) CLEAN UP OLD INSTALL ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
if [ -d "$PROFILE_DIR" ] || [ -f "$DESKTOP_FILE_KIOSK" ] || [ -f "$DESKTOP_FILE_NO_KIOSK" ]; then
  read -rp "Old installation detected. Delete it? [y/N]: " REPLY
  if [[ $REPLY =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then
    echo "Removing old installation..."
    rm -rf "$PROFILE_DIR" "$DESKTOP_FILE_KIOSK" "$DESKTOP_FILE_NO_KIOSK"
  else
    echo "Keeping existing installation and aborting setup."
    exit 0
  fi
fi

# ─── 2) CREATE NEW PROFILE ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
read -rp "About to install YouTube TV web app on your Deck. Proceed? [Y/n]: " REPLY
if [[ $REPLY =~ ^[Nn]$ ]]; then
  exit 0
fi

echo "Creating new profile \"$PROFILE_NAME\""
mkdir -p "$PROFILE_DIR"
$FLATPAK_CMD --no-remote -CreateProfile "$PROFILE_NAME $PROFILE_DIR" >/dev/null 2>&1
mkdir -p "$PROFILE_DIR/extensions"

echo

# ─── 3) DOWNLOAD EXTENSIONS ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
UBLOCK_XPI_URL="https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/downloads/latest/ublock-origin/latest.xpi"
echo "Downloading uBlock Origin from $UBLOCK_XPI_URL"
curl $CURL_OPTS -L "$UBLOCK_XPI_URL" \
     -o "$PROFILE_DIR/extensions/uBlock0@raymondhill.net.xpi"

echo

SPONSORBLOCKER_XPI_URL="https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/downloads/latest/sponsorblock/latest.xpi"
echo "Downloading SponsorBlocker from $SPONSORBLOCKER_XPI_URL"
curl $CURL_OPTS -L "$SPONSORBLOCKER_XPI_URL" \
     -o "$PROFILE_DIR/extensions/sponsorBlocker@ajay.app.xpi"

echo

TAMPERMONKEY_XPI_URL="https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/downloads/latest/tampermonkey/latest.xpi"
echo "Downloading Tampermonkey from $TAMPERMONKEY_XPI_URL"
curl $CURL_OPTS -L "$TAMPERMONKEY_XPI_URL" \
     -o "$PROFILE_DIR/extensions/firefox@tampermonkey.net.xpi"

# ─── 4) WRITE USER.JS (UA, DRM & EXTENSIONS ENABLED) ───────────────────────────
cat > "$PROFILE_DIR/user.js" <<EOF
user_pref("general.useragent.override", "$UA");
user_pref("media.eme.enabled", true);
user_pref("media.gmp-widevinecdm.enabled", true);
user_pref("media.gmp-widevinecdm.autoupdate", true);
user_pref("extensions.autoDisableScopes", 0);
user_pref("extensions.enabledScopes", 15);
EOF

# ─── 5) WRITE DESKTOP ENTRIES ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
mkdir -p "$(dirname "$DESKTOP_FILE_KIOSK")"

# Kiosk-mode entry
cat > "$DESKTOP_FILE_KIOSK" <<EOF
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=$NAME
Exec=$FLATPAK_CMD --no-remote -profile "$PROFILE_DIR" --kiosk "$URL"
Icon=im-youtube
Categories=Network;
StartupNotify=false
EOF

# Non-kiosk entry
cat > "$DESKTOP_FILE_NO_KIOSK" <<EOF
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=$NAME (Browser)
Exec=$FLATPAK_CMD --no-remote -profile "$PROFILE_DIR" "$URL"
Icon=im-youtube
Categories=Network;
StartupNotify=false
EOF

echo
echo "✅ Installation complete!"
echo " • Profile:           $PROFILE_DIR"
echo " • Kiosk desktop:     $DESKTOP_FILE_KIOSK"
echo " • Browser desktop:   $DESKTOP_FILE_NO_KIOSK"
echo
echo "To add to Steam, right-click either entry in your Application menu and select “Add to Steam”."

echo
read -rp "Press Enter to launch YouTube TV in browser mode and install HQ Thumbnail plugin, or Ctrl+C to quit..." _

# Launch main YouTube TV URL in background
echo "Launching YouTube TV in browser mode..."
$FLATPAK_CMD --no-remote -profile "$PROFILE_DIR" "$URL" > /dev/null 2>&1 &

# Wait a few seconds for the extensions to install
sleep 3

# Now open the HQ Thumbnail userscript URL
echo "Installing HQ Thumbnail plugin..."
HQ_THUMB_URL="https://gist.githubusercontent.com/ClassicOldSong/ac88b8b0142d329f004527c1833ccd2d/raw/youtube_leanback_hq_thumb.user.js"
$FLATPAK_CMD --no-remote -profile "$PROFILE_DIR" "$HQ_THUMB_URL" > /dev/null 2>&1 &

exit 0

Usage:

1. Open Konsole on your Steam Deck in Desktop mode
2. Paste bash <(curl -fsSL https://gist.github.com/ClassicOldSong/925d5233e9994d8886f68fc7b9981e3b/raw/youtube_tv_installer.sh) into it, press enter. DO NOT RUN AS ROOT.
3. Done!

Hello! Fantastic script!
Do you mind if I adapt it for Twitch? I found a URL that opens the Android TV version of Twitch.

@sks316 sure

Hello! Is it possible for you to create a similar app for twitch and kick? I’m not sure how to adapt it

Looks like I'm still getting one ad. It's in the first video in Recommended. I tried adding experimental filters in ublock but it remains. Manually adding a filter by right click makes controller not work. Ad is in Portugese/Portugal. I would assume other non-english users experience the same issue. I'm running SteamOS on Legion Go S z1e.
HD Script makes some videos appear with no thumbnail picture.

Ads are filtered by unlock, I don’t do extra setups.
Some videos don’t have HD thumbnails and they result into the default image. It’s very tedious to check if it actually has hd thumbnails.