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Top Extensions to Make YouTube Bearable (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by oct_opus@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

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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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[-] monk@lemmy.unboiled.info 3 points 1 year ago

Or just use a proper third-party client. You wouldn't use Reddit with a browser, or God forbid, the official app? It's the same with YouTube. Or everything, really.

[-] Dazza@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

What would you reccommend?

[-] monk@lemmy.unboiled.info 2 points 1 year ago

Newpipe Sponsorblock is an easy recommendation for everyone on Android. Two minutes of installing/configuring and it's just plain good: downloading, background playback, in-video ad skipping etc.

I, myself, convert YouTube channels into podcast feeds and play YouTube videos among my regular podcasts using AntennaPod, but that requires me to host a service.

[-] brihuang95@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 year ago

the app i use on android is NewPipe, it's been really nice

[-] similar_everywhere@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

you need to get it from fdroid though or directly from github. google play store does not have it. You will only get ripoffs there that are have the name "NewPipe" but are not it. they are also riddled with ads and whatever crap adware is popular now.

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[-] ThisIsNecessary@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I use a browser extension that is called "Comments Sidebar for YouTube". It just puts the comments along the side instead of under the video so I can scroll through them without leaving the video. I think YouTube used to do this? I remember finding this extension to replace that function.

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[-] pixelvolt@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Thank you for this, I was able to watch YouTube videos just fine with ublock enabled, but I didn't really know about the YouTube shorts blocker addon. YouTube shorts are just annoying to look at.

[-] NightOwl@lemmy.one 3 points 1 year ago

Is there a reliable channel blocker addon or front end that let's you keep a list of channels you want blocked. Some channels just keep populating play next or searches when I don't want them to because of how popular the channels are.

[-] partizan@lemmy.fmhy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

for quite some time I use newpipe on mobile and freetube on desktop to watch youtube videos... Its not without its problems, but it gets rid of tracking, adds and other nuisance on their sites.

But mostly if I can, I use and support other sites like odysee.com

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[-] fidelacchius@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Sponsorblock is a life safer.

[-] HelloHotel@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Its a little odd, but onetab+yt-dlp+musicolet alongside newpipe is the best combo for me

[-] EuroNutellaMan@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Youtube non-stop basically prevents the "are you still watching" thing. Useful if you're like me and listen to playlists on the background while studying.

[-] DiabolicalDucks@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I use DF YouTube which lets you hide various parts of the UI

Screenshot

[-] backshift0022@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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!

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[-] yonerboner@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Thanks for the helpful list. Running a few of these, I will checkout some of the others!

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this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2023

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