Smartest thing I've done this month: Disable the YouTube app

I’m using a stock Samsung Galaxy 8 phone right now (with Android 10) and I disabled the YouTube app. I was basically sick of its s***. Since then, I never sign in to the app/site, and so may aspects of using the site are much better now.

  • Everything is faster, since they don’t know me / aren’t tracking as much.
  • I always open YT in Firefox Focus, which doesn’t ever keep cookies or history each time I close it, so there’s no history for YT to mine each time I visit again.
  • I’m pretty sure I see fewer ads since I don’t have a deep history for YT to mine / target.
  • More random suggestions from YT means I am mostly broken out of the bubble caused by their tracking. I find new, interesting music, for instance, now, from the suggestions.
  • Hitting “back” in the browser means I go back wherever I was before, not to the YT home page (like the app used to do to me)

I still visit the site often, and appreciate all the good music and channels I watch, but now it’s overall a much more positive experience, more like YT was a few years ago versus the horrible mess it’s become recently.

I’d still appreciate any other tips anyone has for making YT visits even more enjoyable.

macallik,

I use NewPipe and what has helped me the most is not having to deal w/ the recommendation algorithm.

I reset my subscriptions to only be the most relevant feeds from YouTube and then I only check the subscription page. I've consciously curated the feed to be more productive and I'm much less likely to get distracted when watching videos

fne8w2ah,

YouTube Revanced or Revanced Extended is also a must just for the sheer QoL improvements.

wholeofthemoon,

I just want to disable Shorts!

Rakonat,

Youtube needs to realize its not tiktok and trying to be tiktok will just push the people who actually like that to tiktok and everyone else will just go somewhere else

uranos,

YouTube ReVanced

HerbalGamer,

yeah this solves pretty much all problems people have with modern youtube on android.

KoalaUnknown,

cries with iOS

Ironfacebuster,

Hey, at least you guys have USB C now!

wholeofthemoon,

Doesn’t help my TV

Blackdoomax,

Smartube so.

BilboBargains,

I removed shorts and for a while my life was better until I got arrested.

root,

Maybe the “No pants subway ride” will be held next year. You should join them. :p

BilboBargains,

Is that a thing? If so I’m down

root,

It was back in the day. You’ll need to see if there’s a local group in your area organising it. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Pants_Subway_Ride

Lemmyvisitor,

Ublock Origin is also able to block YouTube shorts

github.com/gijsdev/ublock-hide-yt-shorts

Atemu,
@Atemu@lemmy.ml avatar

I always open YT in Firefox Focus, which doesn’t ever keep cookies or history each time I close it, so there’s no history for YT to mine each time I visit again.

This is not true. Google doesn’t much care about cookies; they employ far more effective means of fingerprinting.

netchami,

LibreTube is the way to go.

mightyfoolish,

I tried LibreTube from FDroid and it doesn’t seem to load any videos. Is that a known issue (I have a Pixel 6)?

netchami,

You might want to change the Piped backend instance in the settings. Google is currently trying to IP-ban all Piped servers, just find an instance that works well. You need to click on the three dots, then select settings, go to ‘Instance’ and at the top you can hit ‘Choose…’ to change the Piped instance. I haven’t experienced any issues with adminforge.de.

SpezCanLigmaBalls,
@SpezCanLigmaBalls@lemmy.world avatar

Does libre have cast support?

netchami,

No, because it requires proprietary Google libraries. If you want to stream YouTube to your TV in a private way, you can try Piped in Firefox with the fx_cast extension. Only works on Desktop Firefox though.

merthyr1831,

Firefox for android supports uBlock which blocks all youtube add btw. I’ve been using the website as my YouTube client for nearly a year now

Anticorp,

My Firefox for Android crashes about every 3rd time I open a YouTube video full screen. It finally got so bad that I installed Newpipe.

snugglesthefalse,

Yeah it doesn’t work in my browser but I just use revanced if I want to do YouTube

merthyr1831,

I’ve had some weirdness with youtube in the past too. For a few weeks firefox would refuse to go into landscape when i opened videos in fullscreen. Kinda cursed

Anticorp,

I think Google intentionally breaks it on Firefox, but it’s just a suspicion, I don’t have any proof.

Usul_00_,

Doesn’t have to be malicious. Most likely just don’t test on it, or at least not a lot.

mightyfoolish,

A Firefox install without uBlock is half baked. Also, Firefox Preview let’s you use any addon, including Sponserblock.

merthyr1831,

any addon? like ones usually only on PC? 🥺

Plagiatus,

Yes

dr_rugby,

Yes. Also when the ads before the video start, just reload and the video starts right away…

sznio,

If you’re using Firefox, install uBlock as well. You can also add the YouTube website as a shortcut to your desktop.

ConstipatedWatson,

Somewhat off topic, but related question for everyone: some time ago on Lemmy I saw somebody making a list of awesome Firefox extensions that would make the general browsing experience better. I was not smart and installed some add-ons right away and I forgot their names

I usually have unblock origin, no script, privacy badger always on, but I seem to remember one or two more that sounded cool, like one that should reject all cookies everywhere and never make me click them

Do you have cool recommendations?

ichbinjasokreativ,

Sponsor block, because sponsor segments are ads and darkreader because dark mode is just better

ConstipatedWatson,

Thanks! I already use dark reader so much I’ve become a vampire and can’t stand anything with white background!

xnileap,

Some other plugins I would recommend: Decentraleyes- prevents tracking from CDN Sponsorblock- skips youtube sponsored segments Clearurls- makes the url field in browser cleaner by removing tracking segments Dark Reader- dark theme for websites Soundfixer- change volume for the webpage User-agent switcher and manager- pretty useful user agent switcher Violentmonkey- one of many script managers. You can download scripts from greasyfork, etc.

And some other plugins that are interesting: Flagfox- shows flag for the location of the website Terms and Service; Didn’t Read- shows you the terms of service of the website, compiled by volunteers Bypass Paywalls Clean- bypasses paywalls of news websites. Unfortunately it has been removed from Firefox plugins website so you would have to download it via the plugin author’s gitlab

Most of the plugins are good to use on Android too. You just need to make a plugin collection and select it in the Fennec browser. Having ublock origin, Dark Reader, and Violentmonkey makes browsing on Android so much better

netchami,

Mull is a superior fork of Fennec.

xnileap,

Thanks for the heads up! I’ll check that out

ConstipatedWatson,

Holy cow! This is a very long list of add-ons! I’ll try them out, thanks! I didn’t see either the Fennec or the Mull browsers on the Google Play Store. I suppose I need to install them separately

Edit: grammar

xnileap,

You’re welcome!

FireTower,
@FireTower@lemmy.world avatar

I used to use the YT app before migration to Revanced. The main advantages I’ve experienced so far: -No ads -Defaults to auto skip video intros and sponsorships -Ability to disable shorts

Personally disabling shorts was the selling point for me, I’d find myself clicking one on an interesting topic then getting sucked in and distracted from the original video.

SynopticVision,

God yes. Fuck shorts. That format should be banned from any platform

python,

Came here to say that exact same thing! Shorts are the bane of my existence, whenever I open my real Youtube App instead of Revanced (still need it to Cast to my Chromecast sometimes), there’s a solid 50/50 chance that I get sucked in by shorts and scroll them for hours. It’s ridiculous, they aren’t even interesting most of the time and I learn nothing from it, but it just keeps happening :/

FireTower,
@FireTower@lemmy.world avatar

It feels like playing a slot machine to me, you mindless keep scrolling in hopes of better content. YouTube has always put users at the whim of the algorithm but shorts feel almost predatory in an addictive way to me.

1984,
@1984@lemmy.today avatar

Install Newpipe and you get an even better YouTube experience. Can be a Holy Shit experience for people who never knew YouTube before it became shit.

dasgoat,

Is newpipe on any playstore or do I need to go find the apk myself? I assume the latter, lol

calamitycastle,

It’s on f droid

1984,
@1984@lemmy.today avatar

Install f-droid, It’s a reliable alternate software store for Android and it’s been around for a very long time.

dasgoat,

Thanks for the advice!

Noite_Etion,
@Noite_Etion@lemmy.world avatar

What I came here to say, my favourite app on my phone.

cRazi_man,

There’s a fork of NewPipe with sponsor block. I’d highly recommended getting that.

The equivalent on your PC would be an app called freetube

freedomenjoyer,

Its a bit out of date currently sadly

cRazi_man,

Works perfectly fine for me. I use it daily, including right now. Give it a shot. Some people are put off by not having personalised suggestions or being able to login to sync or the different interface…but for me all of those are strengths of the app, not weaknesses.

Plagiatus,

Sponsor block is also available as a browser plugin on desktop

liamwb,

There’s also YouTube revanced as well

filcuk,

Literally would not visit youtube otherwise, as proven by the brief pause after Vanced stopped working.

LouisGarbuor,

Another app is LibreTube, although it uses piped, which I kinda dislike as it means (depending on the instance you connect to) videos load slower and the subscriptions don’t all get refreshed.

I know there is a toggle for disabling piped, but the subscription issue doesn’t seem to get affected.

samuelc,
@samuelc@lemmy.world avatar

I installed new pipe to my 15 year old son and he loves it! He hates the algorithm

IvidappAvidapp,
@IvidappAvidapp@mastodon.social avatar

@perishthethought Hi.. try Libretube also 😀 @libretube

And I use Facebook and Instagram through Firefox only,(no apps) so much better 🙃 , better battery life and privacy !

SoylentBlake,

I also only use Facebook thru Firefox. Marketplace to be exact, I lost interest on the social media side in 2016 and haven’t scrolled down once since then.

Reddit thru Firefox spits out different front pages if it detects mobile v desktop version. I rarely go there but I can not stand the mobile ad/smut push, like it’s way to obvious just BUY THIS and BOOBIES. Unusable imo. And I’m just talking about the mobile version of Firefox, I won’t use their app. Fuck reddit.

VioletteRei,

I don’t understand people not wanting recommandations based on ehat they watch… I discovered so much great channel because of it

mcmoor,

I have accidentally stumbled on “default” YouTube and it’s horrible af. Clickbait and fake news all over. It could be better, but I’m very grateful for my current feed.

lowleveldata,

It’s too repetitive. I want to see videos other than 5 hours elden ring speedrun/challenges sometimes too, thanks.

angrymouse,

I can understand both, sometimes YouTube just force me in a loophole of shit

stardust,

YouTube recommendations shows me spoilers if I rely on it, since I don’t get around to games right away. I also hate most YouTube channel personalities. Me and YouTube channels don’t get along. It gets the topic right but I’m too picky over channels I want to even watch, and back out of so many videos I check out. I’m fine with my current list of streamlined subs, and periodically unsub from a bunch due to ending up not watching most of the content anyways and it just cluttering my feed.

Critical_Insight,

Yeah YouTube overall does quite a good job recommending me videos I’m actually interested in.

Mr_Blott,

YouTube Music’s new music suggestions algorithm is fantastic, vastly superior to Spotify

I’d almost pay for it, if it wasn’t for Vanced lol

kratoz29,

My main way to consume YT is with the recommended row of Smart Tube recommended feed in my Nvidia Shield TV, so I agree with you.

random65837,

Its about being surveillled, privacy respecting people arent into that. Google is a dataminer.

netchami,

The recommendations on Piped (privacy-focused YouTube front-end) are fine for me. I actually prefer it when the suggestions are related to the video I am watching right now, than when they are related to some random video I watched 2 weeks ago and I have no interest in.

elbarto777,

Because it leads to echo chambers. It’s working for you now. Great. Then a few months later you get a totally different kind of content and you didn’t realize of that transition. Amd that’s not a good thing.

I’m not saying that will happen to you, specifically. But it has happened to a ton of people.

CephalonKappa,

YT recomened keeps trying to feed me fascist propaganda.

perishthethought,

My issue was just that YT puts me in a bubble where it thinks I want to be. But then you only see videos like the ones you’ve been watching - a bubble. Imo, it’s better to see lots of different videos.

can,

YT knows I have ADHD so it cycles through a few trying to guess my mood. It’s kind of frightening how satisfied I am with it tbh

Alborlin,

Yes I do t like that either and sort of want it too for some channels so what I do is use YouTube revanced with login , I purge my history once three months , and start a random video for first time like may be a documentary or a really.old/new song and then it germinates very different things for me from there on. And I got no ads at all. :)

VioletteRei,

That’s true. But personally, if I want something different, I will simply search on DuckDuck “Reddit good “something” Youtube channels” and I will find a lot of things. I did it for horror channels, I start watching a lot of them and Youtube then show me other horror channels that I didn’t see before. And when i’m bored of the same subject, I rinse and repeaf

aaaa,

For me it’s because I don’t use YouTube for that. I don’t watch channels or personalities. If I go to YouTube, I’m there searching for something specific.

And when I find the video that shows me how to open my key fob to replace the battery, I’m not interested in a series of key fob videos. If I watch a video related to a news story, I’m not interested in all the reaction videos or analyses by people who don’t know what they’re talking about. I’m most certainly not interested in any other video with a thumbnail of someone with their mouth agape at something

I don’t want it suggesting more of them, and I certainly don’t want it automatically advancing to some other video after it’s done. All I want is a video host that plays the videos I asked to watch. Everything else is just a reminder that the kind of videos they push are the exact kinds of videos I don’t want to watch.

They get in the way, they draw attention to the wrong things, and they encourage people to make more of the kinds of videos that get in the way of finding the actual useful information

VioletteRei,

Me I use it while i’m working. One plug in my ear, and I listen to videos or podcasts like that. In that case, I need a lot of videos to watch/listen

Drusas,

As a Pixel user, I don't appear to have the option of uninstalling YouTube. Imagine that.

Signal3r,
@Signal3r@troet.cafe avatar

@Drusas @perishthethought
True, as a Picel user you have no possibility to uninstall Youtube and other apps, because they are system apps. However, you do not have so-called bloatware. With Samsung, Oppo, etc. you can not uninstall the Google apps, and also have a lot of bloatware apps (20 GB) such as Facebook, Netflix, etc. that can not be removed!

Signal3r,
@Signal3r@troet.cafe avatar

@Drusas @perishthethought
Pixels have no bloatware, only the Google system apps!

Kecessa,

You can install revanced and make it your default app for YouTube links

EddieTee77,

But you have a bloat free device…/s

perishthethought,

Just know, I can’t uninstall it either. Instead I went into the Android settings, did Force Stop on the YT app, and then I was able to Disable it.

Drusas,

Thanks for the info. I'll do that.

Obez,

As a pixel user, you are able to install graphene OS!

netchami,

Yeah, Graphene is the way to go.

netchami,

Try the Universal Android Debloater. Or switch to GrapheneOS.

scbasteve7,

Base YouTube is a cancer experience. I used vanced back when it existed. The second they shut down, I stopped using mobile YouTube and just used it on Firefox PC with ad block. When I heard reVanced was a thing, I downloaded it and it’s essentially just like vanced.

I will never use YouTube without adblock unless they either change their monetization system, or ad system.

perishthethought,

revanced.app

For anyone else not aware of this.

BooksAndLetters,

Cries on iPhone

netchami,

You can use Yattee. There’s a guide on how to set it up correctly. You can also just add the Piped website to your homescreen. That’s what I’ve been doing for over a year, before I switched to GrapheneOS. Now I can enjoy LibreTube.

BooksAndLetters,

Cheers. I’ll check it out :)

pfannkuchen_gesicht, (edited )

you can use ublock origin on firefox for android

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