Top Extensions to Make YouTube Bearable

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:

  1. https://ublockorigin.com/: (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.
  2. https://sponsor.ajay.app/: 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.
  3. https://www.returnyoutubedislike.com/: Since YouTube removed the dislike count, it’s been harder to gauge the quality of videos. This extension brings back the dislike count.
  4. https://dearrow.ajay.app/: Extension for crowdsourcing better titles and thumbnails. It removes click-bait titles and thumbnails providing a cleaner Youtube.
  5. https://github.com/doma-itachi/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
  6. https://addons.mozilla.org/fr/firefox/addon/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

Kbin_space_program,

If you're on Android, Newpipe, from Newpipe.net, is great.

I found out about it when Google delisted it.

axzxc1236,

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)

ratherrisky,
@ratherrisky@lemmy.kiberness.xyz avatar

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.

Hamartiogonic,
@Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz avatar

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.

Maheswara,

Tamper monkey with user script to stream YouTube videos as audio…

fidelacchius,

Sponsorblock is a life safer.

10EXP,

Truffle improves the livestream watching experience on YouTube significantly, adding a Twitch-style theatre mode (with chat on the side), BetterTTV emotes, and more.

o_d,
@o_d@lemmy.ml avatar

I almost installed, but the permissions it asks for feels a bit extreme. I’ll probably stick to creating my own theatre mode by using the enhancer full window mode with the pop-out chat to the side.

dottedgreenline,
@dottedgreenline@lemmy.ml avatar

I am currently stuck with a super old ipad3 on ios9.3.6 and the only way I have been able to watch youtube on it is through the edge browser, nothing else seems to work. But the version of edge is so old that there aren’t any working extensions. I have jailbroken it with phoenix and installed cydia (both of which suddenly stopped working), but it turns out the cydia app that lets you install older versions of stuff has also been discontinued.

I have never not used some sort of adblocker, I am shocked at how often I have to interact with the device to skip ads. You also have to unfullscreen to be able to skip so sometimes I just let the ads run.

I get that ads keep youtube chugging along but, jesus christ, maybe it shouldn’t be chugging along any longer. I was trying to watch a 40 minute video yesterday and there were double ads basically every 6 minutes! I feel the freedom to place ads wherever you want in your own video has really destroyed the youtube experience for those who can’t or won’t use adblockers.

HelloHotel,
@HelloHotel@lemmy.world avatar

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

pazukaza,

Please keep in mind that every extension you install is an attack vector for hackers. Just because an extension does something cool doesn’t mean you should install it.

Please stick with the most used extensions, the ones that Mozilla recommends. This is for your safety.

soulifix,

I’ll gladly take YouTube Shorts Block. It is by far, to me, the most unnecessary thing I’ve found on YouTube. So when you watch one of these things, note that you cannot control the volume of them. It’s always mute or not mute. They also have a tendency to snap in place when you’re between videos and in doing so, will restart the video all over again. It is annoying.

I get it’s purpose, but I don’t need it in my face.

Teritz,

I never Heard of DeArrow thats nice thanks

MedicPigBabySaver,

lemmings

HelloHotel,
@HelloHotel@lemmy.world avatar

Tunnel Snakes

backshift0022,

If you want some of these features on mobile Android TV, you’ve still got options!

For Android TV, there’s SmartTubeNext: smarttubenext.comIt 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: revanced.app

And for iOS there’s uYou+ (hasn’t been updated in a while): github.com/qnblackcat/uYouPlus or iVanced (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: 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!

S_204,

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?

HelloHotel,
@HelloHotel@lemmy.world avatar

Newpipe is a personal favorate, its a verry solid, unified package (no plugin support). Can watch most non DRM yt stuff as well as its own non account subscription system, no plugin support means no dearrow or sponsorblock. But it doesnt even relise that the ads even exist so it doesnt load and play them.

EDIT: dark theme is a thing!

Didz,
@Didz@lemmy.world avatar

Even better is NewPipe x SponsorBlock x Return YouTube Dislike all in one.

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