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
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.
Another vote for newpipe. You can download entire videos or just the audio, keep listening to videos when leaving the app or even when turning off your screen. My only complaint is it doesn't have screen mirroring functionality.
This is the same on vanced
And sponsorblock built in, as well
Alternatively, the web app from piped.video is pretty great too. Works nicely on my phone
No tracking, no ads, no bullshit
Revanced as better features and let's you sign in.
I'm sure it does. I don't really need sign in though. YouTube is the last place where I want to have comment interaction. And Newpipe do have local playlist and bookmark options which I need.
With revanced you just get the APK from GitHub and patch the appropriate version of the official YouTube APK.
NewPipe is great, it gets around the main issue with Piped/Invidious instances (that being rate limiting by Google). I've been using it for years and it's been great all this time.
I'll chime in with my vote for NewPipe as well. It's served me very well, and does so much.
Newpipe, you mean that app that displays an annoying "GURU MEDIDATION" error for 30% of videos? Try LibreTube, it actually works.
i've never had an issue with newpipe that wasn't fixed by updating to the latest version
I had it installed for years, updated regularly, and ran into those errors too often to recommend it.
It's much more stable that it was in the past. I'd run it on the desktop if I could.