Hello fellow, lemmings, lemmur !
If you are like me, you probably spend a lot of time on YouTube, more than you want to admit.
I remember the days when videos had stars instead of thumbs up or down, and when YouTube had, let’s say, more mature content on it.
Now the site has a lot of functionalitys that are great for Google, but that I don’t need nor want.
So, to improve the enjoyment of the platform, I present to you the ultimate extension survival kit for YouTube:
- uBlock Origin: (or your favorite ad-blocker) This is an absolute must-have. It’s a good ad-blocker that not only blocks YouTube ads but also works across all websites. It’s lightweight, efficient, and open-source. Say goodbye to ads.
- SponsorBlock: Skip over the sponsored segments of videos. It’s a community-driven project, with users submitting the timestamps of sponsored content. You can even customize it to skip over different types of segments like intros, outros, and more.
- Return YouTube Dislike: Since YouTube removed the dislike count, it’s been harder to gauge the quality of videos. This extension brings back the dislike count.
- DeArrow: Extension for crowdsourcing better titles and thumbnails. It removes click-bait titles and thumbnails providing a cleaner Youtube.
- YouTube Shorts Block: If you’re not a fan of shorts, this extension is for you. It plays the Youtube shorts video as if it were a normal video and hides the “shorts” tab from the left menu. Firefox Link Chrome Link
- Enhancer for YouTube: Allows you to add theming options, auto-HD, keyboard shortcuts and more.
These are the extensions I use. Don’t hesitate to suggest more. I will edit the post accordingly.
It’s not lost on me that these extensions remove many things that were not initially a problem on YouTube but that either arose because of the monetary incentive of Google handling the website, Youtubers trying to make money, or as countermeasures to problems that were taken care of by a previous extension. This kind of feels like an arms race…
Edit 1: Changed the YouTube Shorts Block description and added Enhancer for YouTube
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Reminder to all, Firefox on Android can use UBlock Origin. It’s an easy setup, no more ads.
Corollary, you can install Firefox Nightly and setup an addon collection on the FF website and use pretty much all desktop addons on your mobile Firefox browser.
Brave browser on android has YouTube ad blocking by default.
I’ll add that NewPipe is a great app, has a fork to support sponsorblock and can mix your YouTube subscription with other sources (eg. PeerTube), which could allow for a smooth transition.
You have to be willing to loose your personalized suggestions page, but when it comes to me it helped a lot to get less addicted.
If you’re on Android, Newpipe, from Newpipe.net, is great.
I found out about it when Google delisted it.
For YouTube Shorts, you can copy this filter into the uBlock My Filters.
For older/lower end computers, enhanced-h264ify is a godsend. It blocks youtube from playing VP9 codec which can cause heavy cpu usage on older hardware. It can also block 60fps video as well.
Restore YouTube Username from Handle to Custom
This script restores REAL NAMES in comments instead of
@user-xxxxxx, I am so sick of that shit, I hope revanced will have this function soon. (Edit: I guess that will never happen)If you want some of these features on mobile Android TV, you’ve still got options!
For Android TV, there’s SmartTubeNext: https://smarttubenext.com/ It includes ad blocking and SponsorBlock. I also think the UX is a bit better than the official YouTube app.
For Android, there’s obviously ReVanced: https://revanced.app/
And for iOS there’s uYou+ (hasn’t been updated in a while): https://github.com/qnblackcat/uYouPlus or iVanced (https://github.com/TherionRO/YouTubeiVanced) they will need AltStore to be installed, and will need to be re-signed with a PC/Mac every week.
You can also use AdGuard on iOS though safari and the SponsorBlock extension in the App Store too, but video quality isn’t great.
If you want to avoid resigning with AltStore or using Google services, there’s also Yattee for iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/id1595136629 and Invidious and Piped client!
I don’t have an android device so if any of my info is wrong let me know!
Removed by mod
deleted by creator
I came across Unhook, which lets you remove parts of YouTube that are designed to keep you there.
Changed the YT home page to subscriptions instead of ‘the algorithm’.
- FreeTube has Sponsorblock built in as a default option
- NewPipe on Android (Fdroid store) or NewPipe X SponsorBlock via IzzyOnDroid repo
Thanks for the tip! Using dearrow has been great so far. I wish I could use it on my iPad too, but I guess now there’s another reason to use my laptop more.
Two things I also like to do is changing my Youtube bookmark to
https://www.youtube.com/feed/subscriptionsand adding the following two filters to uBlock:www.youtube.com##.ytp-endscreen-content www.youtube.com###relatedThis basically makes it so that I only see videos from channels I’m actually subscribed to, without having any content pushed on me from the algorithm.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/feed/subscriptions
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
https://odysee.com/ is a descentralized option too.
It has sponsorblock too https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/sponsorblock-for-odysee/gdmldddlfnlmipdpobiaibalcbjjpmib
and this extensions help a lot too https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/watch-on-odysee/kofmhmemalhemmpkfjhjfkkhifonoann
Isn’t odysee some crypto shit?
Odysee uses the blockchain, yeah, thats why it is descentralized. But you don’t have to spend any money in it, unless you want to support a channel.
I don’t understand the hate to Cryptos :| I don’t see that people hate that their FIAT money is worth less every day because they print money without limit.
Use youtube revanced with microg on non rooted phones, it comes with all the premium and unique features…
I’m in the Newpipe bandwagon. NewPipe has been the best way for accessing YouTube for a long time on Android. It’s available in f-droid. Another plus on my book. I’m kinda not so much into installing a random apk for revanced.
Probably not the crowd for this but I just use YouTube premium at this point. I used ublock previously to manage some of this but the kicker was ensuring I could watch YT seamlessly on all devices (TV - fire stick, ipad, ios). I know I can setup a pi hole but have been moving last couple years. Perhaps soon once I settle.
You can set up NextDNS, which will block ads across devices and networks. I think the free tier gives you 300k queries a month.
Never done PiHole but I think the result is similar, with less hassle.
Does this stuff work on mobile?
I use my phone to cast, and/or a google dongle on the TV for Youtube primarily. Almost never from a desktop… does this work still?
