Technology @lemmy.world mastermind @lemm.ee 1 yr. ago

YouTube Enhancement Megathread: Tools and Extensions for All Devices

Hello, Lemmy People's

If you're as addicted to YouTube as I am, you'll understand the countless hours we've all spent on the platform. Nowadays, YouTube has transformed into something quite different, with features that serve the mighty Google but may not be exactly what we're looking for. I've got just the thing for you - YouTube Tools/Extension!!

Android:

ReVanced - It's provides additional features and customization options via patches. (There are many tutorials available for building an custom APK)
ReVanced Extended - It's the same as OG ReVanced, but it provides additional extra patches.
NewPipe - The lightweight YouTube experience for Android
NewPipe Extended - A fork of NewPipe with SponsorBlock and Return YouTube Dislike functionality.

iOS:

uYou+ - uYou+ is a modified version of uYou with additional features and mainly made for non jailbroken users!
uYou+ Extra - It's the same as uYou+, but it provides additional extra features.
YouTube Reborn - It's LillieH1000’s YouTube Reborn but, this fork does some improvements.
YouTube Reborn Plus - LillieH1000’s YouTube Reborn but with even more features!

Desktop/PC:

FreeTube - FreeTube is a YouTube client for Windows, Mac, and Linux built around using YouTube more privately.

TV:

SmartTube - SmartTube - an advanced player for set-top boxes and tv running Android OS

YT Frontend:

Invidious - Invidious is an open source alternative front-end to YouTube.
Piped Video - An open-source alternative frontend for YouTube which is efficient by design.
Libretube - An alternative frontend for YouTube, for Android.

This is a highly popular YouTube frontend, but there's even more to discover here LibRedirect also it's a web extension that redirects YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, and other websites to alternative privacy friendly frontends.

Extensions:

uBlock Origin - Free, open-source ad content blocker.

Currently, there's an annoying popup problem, but don't worry, you can resolve it with these simple steps.[1], [2], also checkout uBlock subreddit.

Return YouTube Dislike -It's an open-source extension that returns the YouTube dislike count.
SponsorBlock - Easily skip YouTube video sponsors. When you visit a YouTube video, the extension will check the database for reported sponsors and automatically skip known sponsors. You can also report sponsors in videos.
Enhancer for YouTube - Take control of YouTube and boost your user experience! Chrome Web Store | Edge Add-ons
BlockTube - It allows you to block specific channels and videos that you don't wish to see or get recommended with. Chrome Web Store | Firefox Add-ons
DeArrow - DeArrow is an open source browser extension for crowdsourcing better titles and thumbnails on YouTube. The goal is to make titles accurate and reduce sensationalism. No more arrows, ridiculous faces, and no more clickbait.
Unhook - Hide YouTube related videos, comments, shorts tab, suggestions wall, homepage recommendations, trending, and other distractions.
RemoveAdblockThing - Removes The "Ad blocker are not allowed on Youtube"

Extra:

PocketTube - Youtube Subscription Manager, The best way to group your subscriptions.
YouT-ube - Add a - after the t in youtube, it's redirect to embed video type format to bypass YouTube's non-skippable ads.
Video Bypass - Watch YouTube videos locally by clicking a button.

Besides these, there are plenty more tools/extensions and user scripts on Greasy Fork and Tampermonkey. If you discover any new and useful ones, feel free to drop a comment.

Thanks for reading.

Edit1: Added TV section.

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64 comments

I have some mixed feelings about doing this for some creators. Blocking sponsors and all the ads from some creators takes more from creators than it does from Google, right? Isn't it the potential monetization that drives many YouTubers to keep creating content? And won't some give up with no financial support?

Are some of you guys blocking all the ads but subscribing to their Patreon?
- To quote Adam Millard (not verbatim):
  
  If you've paid me $5 on my Patreon, I give you permission to block all ads on my channel, since you've already done more than anyone watching ads.
  
  Ad revenue is almost nothing unless you have a massive channel, and if you have a massive channel you're already making sponsorship deals. As far as I know, most sponsors only care about total view count on the video. SponsorBlock isn't as high-profile as ad blockers (yet).
- I used to agree, but then everybody gave me the same NordVPN/RAID:ShadowLegends read and it got as bad as other kinds of ads.
- Feel free to whitelist creators you like. My favorite (Red Letter Media) don't give a fuck thanks to Patreon.
  
  It can also skip intros and other repetitive aspects and a hotkey allows you to unskip segments.
- I do some patreons, I guess about 30 % of my large YouTubers. Did so even before YouTube started the mass enshittification(when I was still premium), but paying patronage to them all is too much. I like the way Peertube operates in that regard. Bandwidth is lower (that's fine) and when a video goes viral some clients will get swapped to P2P mode to offload the host. Checked floatplane and nebula, but the floatplane prices are just too high. I'll probably get nebula for this year and then evaluate my options again for the next year.
- I assumed since sponsorblock just fast forwards the video (which a lot of people do manually) then the YouTuber is still ok? Do they not get paid just for uploading the sponsored content to begin with 🤔

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