The journey continues

[Olshansk]

Starting this thread as a place for discussion on how we can continue the journey.

I don't have a solution (yet) but I am just posting my findings.

---

I just saw the recent announcement:

On July 13th, 2023, Medium has updated its platform with a new version. It restricts casual users from viewing full article content. I have attempted to bypass these restrictions but was unsuccessful. Perhaps the story will end here. I will check back again in the near future. Thank you for using this extension!

After running into it myself at this link:

I tried using 12ft.io as a proxy (accessible here), but am seeing that whatever gets indexed by Google (how 12ft.io works) is no longer the full article:

[und3fined]

@Olshansk thanks for sharing information. But please try with getpocket.com
It's help me read full content in Medium

[BudgieBird]

@Olshansk thanks for sharing information. But please try with getpocket.com It's help me read full content in Medium

Upnext also works as well. Next is to try an alternative that's self-hosted/free.

[Olshansk]

@und3fined I've been a paying subscriber of getpocket.com for years now and contemplated cancelling my subscription recently. Seems like I now have a reason to keep it :)

Thanks @BudgieBird, looks super slick and will give it a shot as well!

[BudgieBird]

@Olshansk @und3fined It looks like Upnext and Pocket have been patched, at least on FF as of last evening.

[Earlopain]

The google search indexer gets access to the full article contents. Unfortunatly you can't just set the User-Agent to the google bot since they have well-known IPs and Medium blocks impersonators.

I believe there is however one possible solution. Since google provides cached versions of websites it's possible to get the full article that way:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Q827lx-O0JYJ:https://towardsdatascience.com/overview-of-text-similarity-metrics-3397c4601f50
The website goes white directly after loading but the html is there. I don't know what this cache key is or whatever but you can just remove it and get a link like this: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://towardsdatascience.com/overview-of-text-similarity-metrics-3397c4601f50

But apparently this is how 12ft.io already works? So I'm not enirely sure, maybe something changed.

[Sparticuz]

I've found google's cache only works if you select Text-Only

[eventanilha]

Take a look here: https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-chrome-clean/-/issues/1061
It's working.

[leviethung2103]

It's not working with bypass-paywalls. I think the medium has already fixed the problem.

[BudgieBird]

@leviethung2103 Are you using the -clean version linked about? Just tried FF and Chrome again, which both work.

[leviethung2103]

@BudgieBird I am not using exactly the version. Because the release of source code only has v3.2.5.0 and v3.2.6.0. I've tried both versions and they did not work

[UsamaKarim]

@leviethung2103 You can clone the repo, It adds a link to Google Webcache

Opening that link worked for me

[leviethung2103]

@osmanfurkan115 I've tried to open the Google Web cache. However, it shows the blank page after opening the link. Maybe I will wait for the authors to update the extension or pay 5$ for month subscription :D

[UsamaKarim]

@leviethung2103

1. Which link you have tried?
2. Are you using .crx version or BPC for installation?

[und3fined]

This is first look for new unlock content

[und3fined]

Hi all, i release a pre-release

Please help me test: https://github.com/und3fined/medium-unlocker/releases/tag/v1.0.0-beta.1

[giasraya]

Hi all, i release a pre-release

Please help me test: https://github.com/und3fined/medium-unlocker/releases/tag/v1.0.0-beta.1

it's working
Link

Thanks @und3fined

[ffreemt]

Awesome it works! Thanks a lot.

[jamalkaksouri]

Hi all, i release a pre-release

Please help me test: https://github.com/und3fined/medium-unlocker/releases/tag/v1.0.0-beta.1

I opened another article that required a subscription using the same IP, but for this article, it gives an IP block error! Why?
Accessible -> https://towardsdatascience.com/overview-of-ui-monitoring-tools-for-apache-kafka-clusters-9ca516c165bd
Inaccessible -> https://tomaszs2.medium.com/5-amazing-go-projects-cybersecurity-networking-and-cloud-architecture-7c4b68cc7f26

[UsamaKarim]

It gives an IP block error!

It seems like Google does not yet cache the content

[jamalkaksouri]

Hi all, i release a pre-release
Please help me test: https://github.com/und3fined/medium-unlocker/releases/tag/v1.0.0-beta.1

I opened another article that required a subscription using the same IP, but for this article, it gives an IP block error! Why? Accessible -> https://towardsdatascience.com/overview-of-ui-monitoring-tools-for-apache-kafka-clusters-9ca516c165bd Inaccessible -> https://tomaszs2.medium.com/5-amazing-go-projects-cybersecurity-networking-and-cloud-architecture-7c4b68cc7f26

And in other articles, it remains frozen in the same state, and the information does not load.

[txctxc]

Hi all, i release a pre-release

Please help me test: https://github.com/und3fined/medium-unlocker/releases/tag/v1.0.0-beta.1

I opened an article that required a subscription -> https://towardsdatascience.com/uncovering-anomalies-with-variational-autoencoders-vae-a-deep-dive-into-the-world-of-1b2bce47e2e9 everything works including those python codes in this article.
However, I opened another article that required a subscription -> https://towardsdatascience.com/auto-encoder-what-is-it-and-what-is-it-used-for-part-1-3e5c6f017726 Some codes in the article does not show up:

[und3fined]

However, I opened another article that required a subscription -> https://towardsdatascience.com/auto-encoder-what-is-it-and-what-is-it-used-for-part-1-3e5c6f017726 Some codes in the article does not show up:

No there, it's bug from Medium

[und3fined]

@jamalkaksouri Please make sure you can open Google cache
Try this link
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://tomaszs2.medium.com/5-amazing-go-projects-cybersecurity-networking-and-cloud-architecture-7c4b68cc7f26

This is my content

[nipnipj]

Beta version is working here. I'm using Linux mint 21 and Microsoft Edge.

Edit:
I think code chunks are not being displayed.

[1noahmorris]

@und3fined How do I install it? Do I need an extension such as tampermonkey?

[und3fined]

@1noahmorris

[cuongblhs]

Hello @und3fined
How to install the beta version for Firefox?

[1noahmorris]

@1noahmorris

It doesn't seem to work for me. I followed the instructions and have it installed, but on any medium article it is still locked, and it doesn't show the "Medium Unlocker" watermark at the top.

[rzsgrt]

Hi all, i release a pre-release

Please help me test: https://github.com/und3fined/medium-unlocker/releases/tag/v1.0.0-beta.1

Just test this and its work! Thank you.
But I have question (since i'm not familiar with this):

It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared on 30 Jul 2023 08:34:36 GMT.
The content is cached on Google and may not be up to date.

Medium article: link

So, it mean that article I'm read is based on content cached on 30 July? If there's update on this article, is it also update the snapshot?

[und3fined]

@rzsgrt Content from Google Cache and Google will update it but maybe need few day

[und3fined]

@cuongblhs There is a difference between the Manifest of Chrome and Firefox. You can download the zip file and create a Manifest compatible with Firefox yourself.

[cretin70707]

When using webcashe the site disappears. how to get around that?

[rzsgrt]

So today, I try to open this article

But I got

Anyone know why this happen?

[hs41-18]

it doesnt seem to be working

[bytebeats]

When I Load unpacked, it show only errors:

Manifest version 2 is deprecated, and support will be removed in 2023. See https://developer.chrome.com/blog/mv2-transition/ for more details.

And my Chrome version is: Version 115.0.5790.170 (Official Build) (arm64)

[und3fined]

@bytebeats @hs41-18 use beta version

https://github.com/und3fined/medium-unlocker/releases/tag/v1.0.0-beta.1

[hs41-18]

@bytebeats @hs41-18 use beta version

https://github.com/und3fined/medium-unlocker/releases/tag/v1.0.0-beta.1

I use beta, still seeing

[und3fined]

@bytebeats @hs41-18 use beta version
https://github.com/und3fined/medium-unlocker/releases/tag/v1.0.0-beta.1

I use beta, still seeing

Try reload page

[hs41-18]

the overlay only gets removed for the previously visible part of the screen for a second and then appears again. However, in anyway the rest of the article is not visible.

[cheemzboi]

i was trying to access this article link but it just removed the paywall and didnt show content then i looked the errors and found this

when i went to the link in the error page i could see the contents of the page normally

[eveningcafe]

my page cannot load image :(

[yskmry]

@und3fined
This fully works, but page translation does't work because content was wrapped by iframe.

[bytebeats]

@bytebeats @hs41-18 use beta version
https://github.com/und3fined/medium-unlocker/releases/tag/v1.0.0-beta.1

I use beta, still seeing

Try reload page

Recently when I tried to open member-only articles, the codes can't be loaded, only an empty region there. What's happening now?

[bytebeats]

I have some open source workarounds for the new medium restriction, have a look: https://freedium.cfd

Freedium still cant load codes yet.

[ZhymabekRoman]

Freedium still cant load codes yet.

Do you mean iframe?

[bytebeats]

Freedium still cant load codes yet.

Do you mean iframe?

Sorry, I'm not familiar with web technology. When I try to load member-only articles in freedium.cfd, codes can't be displayed. And neither medium unlocker did.

[ZhymabekRoman]

Please provide example links

[bytebeats]

Please provide example links

Try this guy pls: https://betterprogramming.pub/stop-calling-kotlin-flows-hot-and-cold-48e87708d863

PS: this guy is more obvious: https://betterprogramming.pub/demystifying-kotlins-channel-flows-b9007e1f773b, you can see part of its codes in safari.

[ZhymabekRoman]

Okey, I understand you. I will implement iframe support asap

[adhiraj2001]

I have some open source workarounds for the new medium restriction, have a look: ***

Unfortunately, I am not able to find their Organization/Repository on GitHub, and the link to the source on their website doesn't seem to redirect to any URL either.

Any idea what's wrong here, or are they not open-source yet ?

[NitishGadangi]

@und3fined Impressed by your work.
Any idea if we can make iframes work, at least the code snippets from GitHub Gist?

[ZhymabekRoman]

Any idea if we can make iframes work, at least the code snippets from GitHub Gist?

Done, check out

[Nikostito]

I have some open source workarounds for the new medium restriction, have a look: ***

@ZhymabekRoman Stop promoting your "opensource" as you called it page. If you really care, then make it really opensource so everyone can benefit from it.

[ZhymabekRoman]

@ZhymabekRoman Stop promoting your "opensource" as you called it page. If you really care, then make it really opensource so everyone can benefit from it.

I update previous message, check out link

[Olshansk]

@und3fined I tried it on [this article](Medium Unlocker - The content in process of being unlocked. Please wait a moment...) with the new beta release, but it doesn't seem to work.

I see the new header pop up, and the footer goes away, but the actual content is not shown.

I tried to use the cached link some others referenced above, but the page ends up being empty.

I haven't looked deeper (yet), but wanted to know where this stands for others in the meantime.

[PAEz]

Here's what Im using.
Turn off CORS - I use an extension. If someone wanted to turn this into an extension (I cant be bothered) then this wouldnt be a problem.
Turn the following code into a bookmarklet and drag it to your bookmarks bar. Sorry I couldnt just add the link here, github couldnt handle it.
Then go to a locked page and click it. All it does it get the sourcecode from the google cache and replace the pages with it.
Comments and who knows, dont work, but you can read the article.
Mainly putting this here incase someone wants to make an extension out of it.

     fetch("https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:"+document.URL+"&vwsrc=1")
        .then((response) => {
        if (!response.ok) {
            throw new Error(`HTTP error in getting page: ${response.status}`);
        }
        return response.text();
    })
        .then((text) => {
        console.log('got page...');
        const parser = new DOMParser();
        const d = parser.parseFromString(text, "text/html");
        var newHTML = document.open("text/html", "replace");
        newHTML.write(d.body.querySelector('pre').innerText);
        newHTML.close();
    })
        .catch((error) => {
        console.log('failed...',error);
    });