this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2025
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Edit: Guys. I think a lot of you missed where I said EASIEST METHODS.
Easiest methods to ditch Youtube ads:
For those who may have heard about Pi-hole and are wondering why it's not on this list: PI-HOLE DOES NOT BLOCK YOUTUBE ADS. IT NEVER HAS AND NEVER WILL.
No Grayjay? Been using that almost exclusively since they released the desktop version. Had to log out and back in with my (new, basically blank) YT account a few times after updates, and there are very rare cases of certain videos not wanting to load, but overall it's been working well so far.
Android, option 3 (Better): newpipe from fdroid. 0% algorithmic feed, exclusively show who you're following, in chronological order
How does Newpipe work? It feels too good to be free.
Miracles
Yeah, this will work for a while but I think the days have gotta be numbered.
Best long term solution? Leave YouTube.
I guess in the meantime: if on PC grab the freetube flatpak. Really decent client, anonymous and create subscriptions without actually subscribing.
Revanced still Relies on G services
Also, Theres this very unknown app Called Freetube for all plattforms or newpipe for Android
I tried Freetube for a while, but it just never works. An actual coin flip each day whether or not anything would load at all. I got so tired of it I just went back to Youtube, as I've only ever seen one single ad in my entire time using uBlock Origin on Librewolf.
Google is constantly making changes that break it, the developers fix them quickly... but if your distro doesn't keep the newest version in their repo then you'd have to install it from their git repo.
Generally they have a patch for any breaking changes within the day.
I use it consistently with few issues. Once in a while, usually on Thursdays (when it seems YT rolls out changes), something breaks, but the devs are quick to fix it. The last issue I experienced was when YT transitioned to SABR, and it was out for a day or two before they had things working again. I am at least perfectly capable of going without for a day once every two months.
It's also one of the projects I've used to learn more about how fixes are worked on in FOSS. I will typically run nightly builds also - I find it pretty cool to follow an issue and once they push a fix I can instantly grab that fresh build without waiting for it to be packaged.
If you want to give it a try again, get mpv and yt-dlp installed in your system then activate from Freetube settings the external player button, which you'll be able to click from search or from a vid page
Revanced uses microG, which is optional. I also mentioned that these were the easiest methods. But, you're absolutely right in that there are plenty of other methods to choose from.
Mac also has the excellent Orion Browser where you can install uBlock origin
I use IgeBlock on Android. It has the banner ads, but not the video ads, so it's pretty good if you don't wanna deal with Revanced
uBlock on mobile Firefox gets rid of all the ads though.
That, and Revanced isn't difficult to set up, you don't even need root:
And you're done. Update once every 6-12 months or so.
Can I block youtube ads with a transparent proxy like squid ? What about a self-hosted youtube auto-downloading queue list ? I'm fine with .mp4 files !
I haven't tried that, so I'm not entirely sure. I just focused on the easy methods that most people will gravitate towards.
Try it and let us know what you find!
Sounds like
yt-dlp. Lots of people use that to get around ads, and also for data hoarding.I think it is extremely hard because they are served from the same servers (technically, ads are YouTube videos)
And if the logic on the client isn't removed, it will hang waiting for the ad
I'm curious for something more sophisticated that dns blocks. Something that modifies the content on the fly like, ublock, dark reader and sponsorblock.
You can also use the Orion browser with Ublock Origin on iPhone.