Welcome to Incremental Social! Learn more about this project here!
Check out lemmyverse to find more communities to join from here!

Youtube is now unusable without a frontend

I have an extension that can individually disable all the most useless/addicting components of the Youtube site, such as shorts and whatnot. On the search page, I have turned on:

hide Shorts

hide For You

hide Trending

hide 'People Also Searched For'

hide Search Categories

hide Promoted Videos

hide Promoted Websites

hide Suggested Products

Do you know what Youtube has started doing? They are now inserting engagement slop DIRECTLY into the search results, as seen in the image above. It's literally a short, yet it's inserted like a video so you're forced to see it. The only possible way to remove it is by using a privacy frontend, as even on incognito mode, Youtube will look at the three videos you've watched and start inserting shit based off that.

Louis Rossman is right, they all have rapist mentalities... "just let me stick it in"

notthoughtsjustcrabrave ,

On a similar note, does anybody know of a frontend or add on for Instagram? I do not want the suggested content and reels they shove down everyone's throats because it is very easy to waste hours and get distracted easily with it. Also no ads would be nice. I have to use Instagram to keep in touch with certain people who I have no alternative means of keeping in touch with.

Humorless4483 ,

I’ve been using beeper for the last 2 months and it has been working perfectly, I can see as video if someone sends a short, I can listen to an audio recording and see all of my messages without ever seeing the instagram feed.

cole ,
@cole@lemdro.id avatar

you're looking for "Instander"! I went on a quest for this myself awhile back

notthoughtsjustcrabrave ,

Thanks!

Hamartiogonic ,
@Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz avatar

I’ve noticed that the search results are getting less and less relevant to what I’m actually looking for. I guess one day the search bar will disappear like the headphone jack of the iPhone.

Lev_Astov ,
@Lev_Astov@lemmy.world avatar

They're so brave.

velox_vulnus ,

You don't need search, all you need is watch. Watch the video, follow the directive of the techo-judgement day Jesus AI, beep-boop.

Million ,

It's the future, year 2025....

Just unplugged from work when I feel a buzz in my forehead and my neuralink pushes new order details straigt into my retinas.

It's another deep dive job. Without hesitation I accept the job since I'm low on prime points. Head back to my office and plug myself back in. Get more details from the job file, seems to be some obscure shit again...

Turn on my cooled chair that prevents my body from overheating during a deep dive. I sit in the chair and start the process.

Thousands and thousands of mind numbing click bait videos speed past me as I weave through them in the metaverse. I'm multiple hours into the dive with no results, and I can feel my body start failing. I should pull out, but the prime points are too tempting, and I'm already so deep, it has to be around here somewhere.

My vision flashes red as my neuralinked dive chair is giving me warnings about my body failing, and just as im about to pass out... There it is, I gotcha... Grab the link and pull out as fast as I can.

Wake up a few hours later after my chair managed to get my heart going again. Scramble through my memories for the link, and there it was. I inform the customer that the matching video has been found and I am awaiting payment... The money is wired to me instantly and I sent them the LINK through neuramail.

Searching YouTube isn't easy these days... But it pays good..

kinship ,

That was some William Gibson shit

Scolding0513 ,

that was amazing

Hamartiogonic ,
@Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz avatar

LOL, brilliant adaptation!

index ,

they are screwing it on purpose to make room for their AI

robber ,

That sounds familiar. Remember when we used to watch TV?

Hamartiogonic ,
@Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz avatar

Oh that thing where in between the ads you can watch low quality reality shows for a few minutes? Yeah, those were the days…

BigBananaDealer ,
@BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee avatar

tried watching a stone cold steve austin show once and had to stop because literally every 4 minutes there were ads. unwatchable

Hamartiogonic ,
@Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz avatar

And then there are the recaps you get every now and then. People making these shows know that most viewers aren’t even really actively watching. It’s just background noise you put on while cooking or doing household chores. When you go to a movie, there are no recap, because the director expects to have your undivided attention at all times.

Nisaea ,
@Nisaea@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

4 mins? Is that an hyperbole? Oo

BigBananaDealer ,
@BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee avatar

not sure but it felt like it

Nisaea ,
@Nisaea@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

Goodness gracious ._.

Saltarello ,

My method for android & desktop. I never sign in to YouTube & never use the app. Using Joplin synced through Nextcloud (any syncable note taking app would do the trick) I keep a list of channels ("subscriptions") & interesting looking videos ("watch later") which I group by length. Obviously, this way the links can be via Piped, YouTube whatever.

I only ever interract through browser which is never signed in. Kiwi browser on Android, Firefox or Brave on desktop. All of them run uBlock + SponsorBlock + DeArrow.

DeArrow is by the same dev/s as SponsorBlock & gives anti clickbait crowd sourced titles & thumbs. Its become an invaluable tool so I'm glad to have paid to offer some support.

All of the browsers have history/cookies etc cleared once closed.

Penguin_Rocket ,
@Penguin_Rocket@lemmy.ml avatar

My method for android & desktop. I never sign in to YouTube & never use the app. Using Joplin synced through Nextcloud (any syncable note taking app would do the trick) I keep a list of channels (“subscriptions”) & interesting looking videos (“watch later”) which I group by length. Obviously, this way the links can be via Piped, YouTube whatever.

As a Joplin user, I find it interesting. So you have a "subscriptions" folder and a "watch later" folder? What is your routine?

Saltarello ,

Nothing sophisticated, I just have a note for videos. The note has headings (use the [toc] trick at the top of the note to jump directly to the headings without having to scroll through everything)

You could categorise video links by genre or whatever your preference. I chose to categorise by length, say up 10 minutes, 11 to 20 minutes, 20 to 30 minutes & so on. So i set up appropriate headings.

Thats it. I also set up a heading for "Audio" as some videos are essentially podcasts, audio based talks etc & Kiwi browser allows background play.

Its a few extra steps over tapping "save for later" in YouTube app but it takes seconds to copy title, copy url & paste into a note & it caters for videos from any source. To remove myself from the shitty algorithm it works for me

Penguin_Rocket ,
@Penguin_Rocket@lemmy.ml avatar

Thank you for describing your system. I didn't even know that table of contents were available in Joplin.

Brutticus ,

Man, I wonder if there will be freetube support for DeArrow that looks great

BaumGeist , (edited )

Louis Rossman is my Alex Jones. He's angry, compelling, and talking about something that makes him seen like a conspiracy theorist to normies. Unlike Jones, though, he's usually right (if not always, I haven't fact checked everything he's ever said). It's extremely cathartic to see someone use such extreme rhetoric to talk about privacy and software ownership and right to repair; e.g. it's not "advertiser's entitlement," it's "rapist mentality."

Ironically, youtube's inability to completely differentiate between people at the same IP has accidentally gotten my non-techie roommate into him too. I never shared his videos with her, never said anything about him, and one day I hear his voice as she browses the web. I'm so proud of her.

My least favorite thing about the "engagement friendly" slop in youtube's search results is that it takes up HALF of the results. Because clearly what I expect from SEARCHING for something is to dredge up a bunch of shit that ranges from tangentially related to completely unrelated.

For example, I too just searched a song. Let's see how that went:

7 results
4 "people also watched" videos
5 results
2 "More from [band name]" videos
2 results
3 "people also searched for" suggestions
2 results
3 "For you" vids (IS IT THE FUVKING SEARCH RESULTS I ASKED FOR???? BECAUSE IF NOT, IT'S NOT REALLY "FOR ME," IS IT?)
2 Results
3 "From related searches"
2 results

That's 20 results to 15 irrelevant pieces of ADHD triggering visual clutter. Luckily the results were actually relevant, unlike whatever you're getting.

To all the commenters saying "I have X, I don't have this problem": I have adblock, I don't have this problem, YOU'RE MISSING THE POINT:

YOUTUBE SEARCH IS BROKEN BY DEFAULT. The largest video sharing site on the internet is BROKEN BY DEFAULT. It shouldn't require extra software to function properly when functioning properly requires less work on the server's side

Bartsbigbugbag ,

I loved Rossmann, but he made a sharp turn to reactionary politics and selfish ideology about the time he really took off. His views on just about anything outside of right to repair are usually so far from right as to be entirely wrong. He also has this idea that because he’s good at repairing things, he must have great takes on everything, and started making so many ridiculously terrible politics videos it became almost impossible to find actually useful content. He’s a smart dude, but like many smart dudes, he’s an idiot in most ways outside his specialty.

chonglibloodsport ,

I agree with him on right to repair and other rights issues but I can’t stand the guy. He’s incredibly abrasive and annoying. I’m interested in people who have interesting things to say. Long, angry rants about stuff I already agree with are just a waste of my time.

dojan ,
@dojan@lemmy.world avatar

I feel this, to an extent. I rather like the guy, I like what he stands for (for the most part, I don't agree with his stance on at-will employment), but I don't generally watch his videos for the same reason; angry preaching to the choir. I already agree, it's mostly a waste of my time to watch.

unreasonabro ,

It's not that it's broken by default, it's that it's broken deliberately. They don't want you to just be able to find what you need and then leave, because that's the civilized way of doing things, and they are GREEDY FUCKING BARBARIANS.

TheChargedCreeper864 ,

Deliberately broken by default?

XTL ,

Broken As Designed is generally broken by default, yes.

cumskin_genocide ,

I don't know anyone that watches YouTube regularly. Seems like such a boomer thing

HopFlop ,

Do you need help lifting the rock you're living under?

XTL ,

Boomers watch broadcast TV. It's what they grew up with.

ikidd ,
@ikidd@lemmy.world avatar

Piped. Trust me.

Sir_Kevin ,

Ya'll need FreeTube.

letsgo ,

Yal'l n'eed t'o lear'n a'bou't apo'str'phe pl'ac'em'en't'.

ma1w4re ,

Ya will need freetube

BaumGeist ,

Damn... That's a good username. Wish I had thought of it

Sunny ,
@Sunny@slrpnk.net avatar

you can have it too, considering you're on separate instances :P

BaumGeist ,

Nah, I don't feel like starting a new account, nor adding to the unnecessary confusion of multiple users with the same name. I'm kinda happy I'm the only one of me rn

CliveRosfield ,

This boy ain’t right

Hamartiogonic ,
@Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz avatar

Rookie numbers! Needs more apostrophes.

rwhitisissle ,

It's "y'all" - as in a contraction of "you all."

Daft_ish ,

You guys still using youtube?

Gonkulator ,
@Gonkulator@lemm.ee avatar

[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

    •
    Daft_ish , (edited )

    Alternative to using youtube? I bought a bike recently. Maybe try that.

    Gonkulator ,
    @Gonkulator@lemm.ee avatar

    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

    •
    Daft_ish , (edited )

    How about autofellatio or no you're already an expert at that too.

    firefly , (edited )
    @firefly@neon.nightbulb.net avatar
    • 21 ALTERNATIVES TO YOUTUBE *

    The Internet Archive https://archive.org offers over 1.8 million free movies and over 12 million free videos.

    Here are more options. Most are browser-based. A couple require an app.

    ODYSEE
    https://odysee.com
    VIDLII
    https://www.vidlii.com/
    INVIDIOUS
    https://invidio.us
    TIKTOK
    https://tiktok.com
    9GAG
    https://9gag.com
    BITCHUTE
    https://www.bitchute.com
    BILIBILI
    https://www.bilibili.tv/en
    RUMBLE
    https://rumble.com
    PEERTUBE
    https://peertube.tv/videos/overview
    NEWPIPE
    https://newpipe.net
    TWITCH
    https://www.twitch.tv
    TED TALKS
    https://www.ted.com/talks
    VIMEO
    https://vimeo.com/
    VEOH
    https://veoh.com/
    LBRY
    https://lbry.com/
    DAILYMOTION
    https://www.dailymotion.com/us
    UTREON / PLAYEUR
    https://playeur.com/
    THE OPEN VIDEO PROJECT
    https://open-video.org/
    STORYFIRE
    https://storyfire.com/
    DLIVE
    https://dlive.tv/

    @Daft_ish

    Ultragigagigantic ,
    @Ultragigagigantic@lemmy.world avatar

    Thanks, hope peertube takes off

    0x2d ,

    removedute

    Anticorp ,

    TikTok as an alternative to YouTube because of ads and intrusive videos? That's just replacing one poison with a stronger poison.

    Agora ,

    Lol TikTok

    0x2d ,

    also, i don't really consider tiktok an alternative

    firefly ,
    @firefly@neon.nightbulb.net avatar

    There are twenty alternatives in the list. Did you try any of them?

    I added No. 21, DLIVE https://dlive.tv/

    penquin , (edited )
    @penquin@lemm.ee avatar

    I simply just stopped searching or clicking on anything I'm not subbed to while logged in. It's like you commit a crime when you click something. Next then thing you know, that same fucking channel is following everywhere you go, in the home page and under every video you watch. Fuck google and fuck all this enshitification campaign the internet is undergoing

    retrolasered ,
    @retrolasered@lemmy.zip avatar

    Try piped. Your feed is only what you subscribe to and theres a toggle to hide shorts

    darthelmet ,

    I've tried looking into that but I couldn't get it working. It didn't add any subscriptions to my feed. Going to the site now I don't even seem to be able to click on anything. I just tried disabling my ad blocker and now I can click on stuff, but none of it won't load any videos. Any idea what's up with it? I'd love to be able to switch off YT if I can.

    BlueKey ,
    @BlueKey@kbin.run avatar

    Which instance are you on.
    I use piped.adminforge.de with uBlock and it works fine.
    Also the feed shows stuff from my subscriptions (I think I adjusted something in the settings for that).

    DreadPotato ,
    @DreadPotato@sopuli.xyz avatar

    Piped isn't working for me either anymore. I was using piped.adminforge.de before, but I've tried other instances too without any luck. It won't load play any videos at all. I can search and find stuff without issues, but I can't play anything.

    BlueKey ,
    @BlueKey@kbin.run avatar

    Have you tried to enable only one codec and set the default quality to something like 720p in the preferences?

    retrolasered ,
    @retrolasered@lemmy.zip avatar

    Depends on the instance, it might be down or having work done on it, and also I think there might be some ongoing war with youtube api to keep everything working but im not sure. I just signed up on the kavin rocks one, every couple of days it will be down for a bit but it comes back up.

    Scolding0513 ,

    I used Piped for a while, but it's always broken half the time or incredibly slow, it was giving me an aneurism. Freetube and never looked back

    toni_bmw ,
    @toni_bmw@lemmy.world avatar

    Or NewPipe

    Murdoc ,

    Or Tubular

    Cistello ,

    Stuck in local

    T4V0 ,
    @T4V0@lemmy.world avatar

    Or PipePipe (at the time it was basically Newpipe with comments to me)

    toastal ,

    The SponsorBlock integration is a major difference from NewPipe

    Sir_Kevin ,

    Or FreeTube

    BradleyUffner ,

    Is it possible to turn recommendations on? I'm fine with those, but I never want to see shorts again.

    retrolasered ,
    @retrolasered@lemmy.zip avatar

    No I dont think so. Theres a trending page on a feed page

    Chiro ,

    Is there a YouTube client for iOS? I know, iPhone bad etc, but it’s what I’ve got for now. 95% of the time I’m watching YouTube it’s not on my pc. There’s a Vanced in the App Store but I don’t trust it, especially since Vanced was shut down about 2 years ago if I’m not mistaken…

    Zier ,
    @Zier@fedia.io avatar

    Firefox, uBlock Origin, on a Linux Desktop. I have none of these problems and have filters to hide shorts, endcards, autoplay, ambient mode. And I block all cookies from Youtube/Google.
    Works perfectly.

    7heo , (edited )

    This is the way. And I might add, Unix desktop. Let's not start bikeshedding between FOSS Unix distributions out of dogmatic reasons (I'm sure you didn't mean to specifically single out "Linux" here, but I wish we would stop opposing "Linux" and other Unixes like BSD, Illumos, etc).

    The point is, voting with your data for software that is defending your interests, and respecting your rights.

    Edit: Dang, I didn't expect to get so much slack for "Unix as opposed to Unix-Like". I absolutely meant "Unix-Like", but my point is that it shouldn't matter. Most software is trying to be compatible, these days, and Linux isn't (in spite of all that marketing material) an OS. It is a kernel. So semantics for semantics, can it even be compared to something it is not? I merely tried to be inclusive.

    folkrav ,

    It’s not so much opposition rather than other BSDs having almost negligible desktop presence… If we really want to get into semantics, too, Linux is technically not UNIX.

    octopus_ink ,

    This is a weird response to me.

    This is the way. And I might add, Unix desktop.

    Sure man, rock on. ✊

    Let’s not start bikeshedding between FOSS Unix distributions out of dogmatic reasons (I’m sure you didn’t mean to specifically single out “Linux” here

    Eh.. OP seems to be talking about their own setup. They probably "singled out" Linux because it's what they use.

    I wish we would stop opposing “Linux” and other Unixes like BSD, Illumos, etc).

    I oppose none of those things, but Linux isn't Unix.

    (Usually the Unix folks are the ones at pains to point that out.)

    Hazzia ,

    Add on the PokeTube skin from userstyles.org and you can pretend you live in a world that's free and balanced where children can kick the asses of wannabe capitalistic overlords instead of the corporate hellscape we currently find ourselves in.

    Zier ,
    @Zier@fedia.io avatar

    just an fyi it's userstyles.world now. The .org is dead.

    Norule6 ,

    I'm working towards a Linux distro instead of windows. Until I get there it's Firefox, unblock on a desktop with mullvad VPN. Set the vpn location to Albania for no ads.

    Zier ,
    @Zier@fedia.io avatar

    Kubuntu is very friendly, it's my daily. Try Mint if you want easier.

    Corigan ,

    https://lemm.ee/pictrs/image/6f4faa9c-e979-47cc-9ac4-0574c59e3be4.webp

    I get nothing. Google is all pissy I turned off history and refuse to use their app. So they refuse to suggest anything.

    The upside is no bloat and no ads, just have to know a topic.

    potentiallynotfelix ,

    positive for me cause I dont want to see their shitty recommendations anyways. I just like/dislike a video to indicate I watched it.

    potentiallynotfelix ,

    hold up... danTDM?

    slimarev92 ,

    Works for me

    https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/9d2c68e0-cb64-428b-8dfe-ded83ca0543a.jpeg

    feddylemmy ,

    I also got very relevant results for that query.

    Marin_Rider ,

    I find most searches will give me the first 3 or videos meeting the criteria roughly followed by a bunch of random stuff that has nothing to do with what I searched

    psud , (edited )

    Fine for me too

    https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/67c450bc-f7f3-49f6-885c-6b30da4ff232.png

    ColdWater ,
    @ColdWater@lemmy.ca avatar

    Works fine on yt revanced 1000003714

    IsThisAnAI ,

    "Literally UNUSABLE!"

    Meanwhile 99% of the planet uses it just fine.

    Omega_Haxors ,

    99% of the planet are sheep who just click the first thing that shows up, if not enables autoplay while it feeds them incel nazi conspiracy shit.

    possiblylinux127 ,
    @possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip avatar

    Or even worse, feeds them modern clickbait news.

    voracitude ,

    No, they all hate it too.

    IsThisAnAI ,

    1.3T visits in 2023. 100M are paying for premium. They are doing just fine.

    voracitude ,

    Oh, sorry, I thought we were talking about how much people who use YouTube hate YouTube's shitty design, based on the fact that this whole thread is about YouTube users hating the enshittification of YouTube.

    But you're not here to engage with anyone, are you. You're here to shill for a corporation 🤡

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • privacy@lemmy.ml
  • random
  • incremental_games
  • meta
  • All magazines
    •