diff --git a/src/YoutubeApi.cpp b/src/YoutubeApi.cpp
index 0dda5b1..59977c3 100644
--- a/src/YoutubeApi.cpp
+++ b/src/YoutubeApi.cpp
@@ -27,156 +27,148 @@
 
 #include "YoutubeApi.h"
 
-YoutubeApi::YoutubeApi(String apiKey, Client &client)	{
-	int strLen = apiKey.length() + 1; 
-	char tempStr[strLen];
-	apiKey.toCharArray(tempStr, strLen);
-
-	YoutubeApi(tempStr, client);
-}
-
-YoutubeApi::YoutubeApi(char *apiKey, Client &client)	{
-	_apiKey = apiKey;
-	this->client = &client;
-}
-
-int YoutubeApi::sendGetToYoutube(char *command) {
-	client->flush();
-    client->setTimeout(YTAPI_TIMEOUT);
-	if (!client->connect(YTAPI_HOST, YTAPI_SSL_PORT))
-    {
-        Serial.println(F("Connection failed"));
-        return false;
-    }
+YoutubeApi::YoutubeApi(const char* key, Client &client)
+	: apiKey(key), client(client)
+{}
+
+YoutubeApi::YoutubeApi(const String &apiKey, Client &client) 
+	: YoutubeApi(apiKey.c_str(), client)  // passing the key as c-string to force a copy
+{}
+
+int YoutubeApi::sendGetToYoutube(const char *command) {
+	client.flush();
+	client.setTimeout(YTAPI_TIMEOUT);
+	if (!client.connect(YTAPI_HOST, YTAPI_SSL_PORT))
+	{
+		Serial.println(F("Connection failed"));
+		return false;
+	}
 	// give the esp a breather
-    yield();
+	yield();
 
-    // Send HTTP request
-    client->print(F("GET "));
-    client->print(command);
-    client->println(F(" HTTP/1.1"));
+	// Send HTTP request
+	client.print(F("GET "));
+	client.print(command);
+	client.println(F(" HTTP/1.1"));
 
 	//Headers
-    client->print(F("Host: "));
-    client->println(YTAPI_HOST);
+	client.print(F("Host: "));
+	client.println(YTAPI_HOST);
 
-    client->println(F("Cache-Control: no-cache"));
+	client.println(F("Cache-Control: no-cache"));
 
-	if (client->println() == 0)
-    {
-        Serial.println(F("Failed to send request"));
-        return -1;
-    }
+	if (client.println() == 0)
+	{
+		Serial.println(F("Failed to send request"));
+		return -1;
+	}
 
 	int statusCode = getHttpStatusCode();
-    
-    // Let the caller of this method parse the JSon from the client
-    skipHeaders();
-    return statusCode;
-}
-
-bool YoutubeApi::getChannelStatistics(String channelId){
 
-	int strLen = channelId.length() + 1; 
-	char tempStr[strLen];
-	channelId.toCharArray(tempStr, strLen);
+	// Let the caller of this method parse the JSon from the client
+	skipHeaders();
+	return statusCode;
+}
 
-	return getChannelStatistics(tempStr);
+int YoutubeApi::sendGetToYoutube(const String& command) {
+	return sendGetToYoutube(command.c_str());
 }
 
-bool YoutubeApi::getChannelStatistics(char *channelId){
+bool YoutubeApi::getChannelStatistics(const char *channelId) {
 	char command[150] = YTAPI_CHANNEL_ENDPOINT;
-    char params[120];
-    sprintf(params, "?part=statistics&id=%s&key=%s", channelId, _apiKey);
-    strcat(command, params);
+	char params[120];
+	sprintf(params, "?part=statistics&id=%s&key=%s", channelId, apiKey.c_str());
+	strcat(command, params);
 
-    if (_debug)
-    {
-        Serial.println(command);
-    }
+	if (_debug)
+	{
+		Serial.println(command);
+	}
 
 	bool wasSuccessful = false;
 
-    // Get from https://arduinojson.org/v6/assistant/
-    const size_t bufferSize = JSON_ARRAY_SIZE(1) 
-							+ JSON_OBJECT_SIZE(2) 
-							+ 2*JSON_OBJECT_SIZE(4) 
-							+ JSON_OBJECT_SIZE(5)
-                            + 330;
+	// Get from https://arduinojson.org/v6/assistant/
+	const size_t bufferSize = JSON_ARRAY_SIZE(1) 
+	                        + JSON_OBJECT_SIZE(2) 
+	                        + 2*JSON_OBJECT_SIZE(4) 
+	                        + JSON_OBJECT_SIZE(5)
+	                        + 330;
 
-    int httpStatus = sendGetToYoutube(command);
+	int httpStatus = sendGetToYoutube(command);
 
-    if (httpStatus == 200)
-    {
-        // Allocate DynamicJsonDocument
-        DynamicJsonDocument doc(bufferSize);
+	if (httpStatus == 200)
+	{
+		// Allocate DynamicJsonDocument
+		DynamicJsonDocument doc(bufferSize);
 
-        // Parse JSON object
-        DeserializationError error = deserializeJson(doc, *client);
-        if (!error)
-        {
+		// Parse JSON object
+		DeserializationError error = deserializeJson(doc, client);
+		if (!error)
+		{
 			wasSuccessful = true;
 
-            JsonObject itemStatistics = doc["items"][0]["statistics"];
+			JsonObject itemStatistics = doc["items"][0]["statistics"];
 
 			channelStats.viewCount = itemStatistics["viewCount"].as<long>();
 			channelStats.subscriberCount = itemStatistics["subscriberCount"].as<long>();
 			channelStats.commentCount = itemStatistics["commentCount"].as<long>();
 			channelStats.hiddenSubscriberCount = itemStatistics["hiddenSubscriberCount"].as<bool>();
 			channelStats.videoCount = itemStatistics["videoCount"].as<long>();
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            Serial.print(F("deserializeJson() failed with code "));
-            Serial.println(error.c_str());
-        }
-    } else {
-        Serial.print("Unexpected HTTP Status Code: ");
-        Serial.println(httpStatus);
-    }
-    closeClient();
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			Serial.print(F("deserializeJson() failed with code "));
+			Serial.println(error.c_str());
+		}
+	} else {
+		Serial.print("Unexpected HTTP Status Code: ");
+		Serial.println(httpStatus);
+	}
+	closeClient();
 
 	return wasSuccessful;
 }
 
-void YoutubeApi::skipHeaders()
-{
-    // Skip HTTP headers
-    char endOfHeaders[] = "\r\n\r\n";
-    if (!client->find(endOfHeaders))
-    {
-        Serial.println(F("Invalid response"));
-        return;
-    }
-
-    // Was getting stray characters between the headers and the body
-    // This should toss them away
-    while (client->available() && client->peek() != '{')
-    {
-        char c = 0;
-        client->readBytes(&c, 1);
-        if (_debug)
-        {
-            Serial.print("Tossing an unexpected character: ");
-            Serial.println(c);
-        }
-    }
+bool YoutubeApi::getChannelStatistics(const String& channelId) {
+	return getChannelStatistics(channelId.c_str());
+}
+
+void YoutubeApi::skipHeaders() {
+	// Skip HTTP headers
+	char endOfHeaders[] = "\r\n\r\n";
+	if (!client.find(endOfHeaders))
+	{
+		Serial.println(F("Invalid response"));
+		return;
+	}
+
+	// Was getting stray characters between the headers and the body
+	// This should toss them away
+	while (client.available() && client.peek() != '{')
+	{
+		char c = 0;
+		client.readBytes(&c, 1);
+		if (_debug)
+		{
+			Serial.print("Tossing an unexpected character: ");
+			Serial.println(c);
+		}
+	}
 }
 
-int YoutubeApi::getHttpStatusCode()
-{
-    // Check HTTP status
-    if(client->find("HTTP/1.1")){
-        int statusCode = client->parseInt();
-        return statusCode;
-    } 
+int YoutubeApi::getHttpStatusCode() {
+	// Check HTTP status
+	if(client.find("HTTP/1.1")){
+		int statusCode = client.parseInt();
+		return statusCode;
+	} 
 
-    return -1;
+	return -1;
 }
 
 void YoutubeApi::closeClient() {
-	if(client->connected()) {
+	if(client.connected()) {
 		if(_debug) { Serial.println(F("Closing client")); }
-		client->stop();
+		client.stop();
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/YoutubeApi.h b/src/YoutubeApi.h
index f958db3..28169ad 100644
--- a/src/YoutubeApi.h
+++ b/src/YoutubeApi.h
@@ -37,31 +37,32 @@
 
 #define YTAPI_CHANNEL_ENDPOINT "/youtube/v3/channels"
 
-struct channelStatistics{
-  long viewCount;
-  long commentCount; /* DEPRECATED */
-  long subscriberCount;
-  bool hiddenSubscriberCount;
-  long videoCount;
+struct channelStatistics {
+	long viewCount;
+	long commentCount;  /* DEPRECATED */
+	long subscriberCount;
+	bool hiddenSubscriberCount;
+	long videoCount;
 };
 
 class YoutubeApi
 {
-  public:
-    YoutubeApi (char *apiKey, Client &client);
-    YoutubeApi (String apiKey, Client &client);
-    int sendGetToYoutube(char *command);
-    bool getChannelStatistics(char *channelId);
-    bool getChannelStatistics(String channelId);
-    channelStatistics channelStats;
-    bool _debug = false;
+	public:
+		YoutubeApi(const char *key, Client &client);
+		YoutubeApi(const String& apiKey, Client& client);
+		int sendGetToYoutube(const char *command);
+		int sendGetToYoutube(const String& command);
+		bool getChannelStatistics(const char *channelId);
+		bool getChannelStatistics(const String& channelId);
+		channelStatistics channelStats;
+		bool _debug = false;
 
-  private:
-    char *_apiKey;
-    Client *client;
-    int getHttpStatusCode();
-    void skipHeaders();
-    void closeClient();
+	private:
+		const String apiKey;
+		Client &client;
+		int getHttpStatusCode();
+		void skipHeaders();
+		void closeClient();
 };
 
 #endif