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. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. DeArrow: Extension for crowdsourcing better titles and thumbnails. It removes click-bait titles and thumbnails providing a cleaner Youtube.
  5. 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. 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

  • Ab_intra@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1033·
    1 year ago

    Or you could just subscribe to YouTube Premium (same price as Spotify) and get YouTube Music with it… Also it seems like Google is planning on having a three strike policy on ad blocking.

    • yoshisaur@lemm.eeEnglish
      62·
      1 year ago

      Firefox + Ublockorigin works against the 3 strike policy. Premium is not flexible for anyone. No one uses Youtube music or anything else that isn’t no ads or downloads. They’re only included to increase the price, and there’s no other options.

      • iAmTheTot@kbin.social
        5·
        1 year ago

        I use YT Music. And Premium was always included in the cost even way back in the Google Play Music days. Not sure what you’re on about.

        • yoshisaur@lemm.eeEnglish
          31·
          1 year ago

          I’m glad that premium works for you, but most of the included benefits in premium, most people don’t end up using.

          • Ab_intra@lemmy.worldEnglish
            31·
            1 year ago

            Like the no ads you’re talking about? And how do you know what people end up using?

            Just because there is people here that don’t like the idea here of paying for premium don’t mean there is not people who use it…

      • Ab_intra@lemmy.worldEnglish
        32·
        1 year ago

        . No one uses Youtube music or anything else that isn’t no ads or downloads.

        Uhm, YouTube Music is with no ads and you can download? Dunno what your point is here really.

        Premium is not flexible for anyone.

        Uhm, it’s flexible for anyone that uses Spotify, it’s the same price in one, you get YouTube without ads and YouTube Music in the same price.

        Firefox + Ublockorigin works against the 3 strike policy.

        I’ve not tested this, I’m not sure if this is even implemented for most users as it’s still in beta testing after what I’ve heard. So this might not be the case.

        • NightOwl@lemmy.oneEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          Youtube without ads isn’t a selling point.

          Now if had stuff like returning downvote visibility, ability to group channels, and native sponsorblock and features like skip to highlight that would be a start.

          • Ab_intra@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            It’s not really the selling point for me either, It was a bonus because I got YouTube Music in the mix. Free ads was a bonus at that point.

    • oct_opus@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      3·
      1 year ago

      I feel like there was an unwritten agreement between extension developers and Google/Youtube. Youtube allowed ad-blocking for those who wanted it, and in exchange, ad-blockers didn’t hide that users were blocking ads. By doing this, Youtube would break this agreement. I think there will always be a way around it, but currently, as it’s still working, no alternative that I know of has been developed.

      • Ab_intra@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        1 year ago

        Don’t think that’s really the case tbh. YouTube has allowed this for some time, yes, but they have been blocking this also from time to time. There was a reason why i started to use Unblock Origin in the first place because Adblock plus i think it was stopped working.

        But a year or two ago I tried YouTube Premium for free for a month and ended up canceling Spotify and only using this now. The fact of the matter is that Google is losing loads of cash because people are blocking the ads.

        I’m not pointing fingers to anyone here, I myself have used ad blocking for years, but when the price was right I jumped ship from Spotify and became a premium subscriber at YouTube.

        • ZodiacSF1969@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          1 year ago

          I’m tempted, but I’ve been using Spotify so long it’s hard to make a change. I should look into it again though.

          It sucks you got downvoted so much. It’s a legitimate point, and it’s unsustainable for YouTube to keep hosting so much content if people aren’t subscribing and aren’t viewing ads.

          • Ab_intra@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            Thanks for a constructive comment! I would say go for it. You can import playlists. I don’t think there is a native way but it might be by now.

            I actually think the mixes that Youtube Music makes for you are much better than what Spotify gives you. But then again Google has loads of more data points on us.

            You can get a free month I think that’s how I got into it.

            • ZodiacSF1969@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              1 year ago

              Cheers, I might give it a go next time they offer me the free trial. I’m definitely not adverse to paying for ad-free access 😊

              • Ab_intra@lemmy.worldEnglish
                1·
                1 year ago

                It’s worth it IMO. You get it for the same price that you pay for Spotify and get ad free Youtube + music. IMO that’s bigger value.

                Hope you enjoy it if you end up trying it out.

        • Haui@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
          3·
          1 year ago

          Adblock plus still works and very well too. Also, widening the ad situation was what got me to use it. I was ok watching one or two ads every now and then but I‘m not gonna be looking at 20 minute unskippable ads (thats when I said its enough). As some posts say, the ad driven internet is dying and rightfully so. Looking into peertube atm and liking what I see. All the streaming services need to get their stuff together and make a unified model: you wanna watch disney, disney gets a portion of your fee, walking dead? Netflix of whoever and so on. At least thats how I think it would be fair. Like a cable subscription and not half of your rent just to watch all the stuff.

            • Haui@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
              2·
              1 year ago

              That is absolutely a real thing. Sometimes, if you watch a video of a couple hours it puts huge prerolls in front and its one thing if they are skippable (because who wants 20 mins of ads anyway?) but when they became unskippable is when I pulled the trigger.

    • skye@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      3·
      1 year ago

      is it possible for multiple people to use one youtube premium subscription other than the family plan? we checked the family plan but there’s no way we can justify paying for it, far too expensive for us considering all our other expenses

      • Ab_intra@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        I’m not sure tbh. One thing you could do is have one use it online while the other person using it offline.

        But i get that it might be to expensive for a family plan.

      • iAmTheTot@kbin.social
        51·
        1 year ago

        Because things can’t always be free. It’d be nice if we lived in a utopic society where data storage and energy were unlimited, but we don’t. YT Premium has been the best value of a sub I’ve ever spent money on.

      • Ab_intra@lemmy.worldEnglish
        34·
        1 year ago

        Thanks for the personal attack.

        Also as I’ve stated above this is something that Google is working to block. Soon you will have to watch ad or not be able to use YouTube at all.