I used Firefox with ublock origin[0] and never see an ad.

[0]https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock

I pay for YouTube Premium largely because the family watches YouTube on Roku, AppleTV, etc. For that, it’s worth it.

I wish YouTube music wouldn’t share subscriptions with YouTube proper, but I just pay for Spotify and ignore YouTube Music.

The uBlock plugin also works on the Firefox Android app!

or, for adfree youtube experience on android, I am using "youtube vanced" [0](like advanced, but without the ad), and heard lots of people vouching for opensource "newpipe"[1]

Edit: Be warned: just found out that theres a "Block All Ads For Youtube Vanced ads" in playstore thats a fake scam (it even contains ads on its own). Real Vanced isn't on playstore

[0]: https://vanced.app/

non root: https://www.xda-developers.com/youtube-vanced-apk/

root: https://www.xda-developers.com/youtube-vanced-apk-root/

[1]: https://newpipe.schabi.org/

I use the same on desktop, but for an ad free mobile experience, and background audio play on an unjailbroken iPhone, coughing up the cash seems most appropriate.

Here's the browser add-on links for the curious:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin...

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ublock-origin/cjpa...

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/ublock-origin/9nblggh444l4...

Make sure to go into the Options > Filter Lists and check the Annoyances section. That'll get you through most soft-paywalls these days (WaPo, The Atlantic, etc).

Also, the Japanese Language section will trip a LOT for some reason, so you may want to skip that.

Works great on Desktop, but more complicated on iOS without a piHole.

I use iOS Safari with content blockers and never see YouTube ads.

However, if YouTube were to start annoying me I would just stop going there. Just like when I stopped watching TV due to the frequency of ads on American television.

Fortunately for me, I don't watch a lot of YouTube. More often I'm on Twitch, where I also don't see ads on my desktop at least. Unfortunately Twitch has started downgrading their mobile experience trying to force all mobile users to use the Twitch app instead. It's not big loss, I don't really watch Twitch on my phone. On my tablet, I just RDP into my Windows desktop and watch through there.

I would miss Twitch if I had to leave it, but I'm so anti-advertising that if they forced ads on me I wouldn't think twice about leaving.

Which content blocker(s) do you currently use on iOS Safari?

BlockBear

Thief!!!!

"Your contract with the network when you get the show is you're going to watch the spots. Otherwise you couldn't get the show on an ad-supported basis. Any time you skip a commercial or watch the button you're actually stealing programming." --Jamie Kellner, former Warner executive

I'm okay with this. They've deplatformed or suppressed most of my favorite YouTubers anyway, and they are trying to push a culture that I don't agree with.

Then stop using YouTube. If I don't agree with the grocery store's business choices, I can steal from them?

They're a monopoly and the leader of a winner-take-all market. They leverage their power to control the narrative on many topics. I think of any company to not support, YouTube is a good one to do so.

Not supporting is not the same as stealing. It's your business as to whether you want to support YT or not, but your disagreeing with their business practices or business model does not give you the right to steal. Perhaps I've misunderstood you (I'm reading this in context of your previous comment where you said you were okay with this, which I take to mean you're okay with stealing their content)?

We have different ethical standards then. If a company is a monopoly that actively leverages its power to manipulate entire populations, then I am fine with exploiting services which it makes available. They have the ability to keep me from accessing the site if I use an ad blocker. If they want me off the platform that much, they can boot me off.

True but this is a better argument for leaving. They will retain you without ad income largely because that is valuable to them compared to people leaving their platform and what a group of actual non-spectators might entail afa the marketplace.

I see what you're saying, but that's a prisoner's dilemma[1]. By that I mean it would require the coordination of millions of others who are also sick of the platform to behave irrationally. It also assumes that people who leech off of YouTube would be unwilling to try a different site because of their leeching.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner%27s_dilemma

This, I think, is your argument. It's helped me to see where you're coming from and - I don't disagree. This is a good point. Thanks for helping me see things differently!

Sounds like a Nash equilibrium.

You wouldn’t download a car!

> They've deplatformed or suppressed most of my favorite YouTubers anyway

> They're a monopoly and the leader of a winner-take-all market.

There is some cognitive dissonance in there, particularly with "deplatforming" and "monopoly" part. If your favorite creators are all gone, why don't you just stop using that service? (I have done exactly that, tbh).

There's no dissonance. A monopoly has the capacity to remove anyone from their platform with no real reprocussions, so that's what they do.

why don't you just stop using that service?

There are no real alternatives to YouTube that any real content creators are willing to move to, and there are still some users that I watch, so I download the videos and don't support the platform. I have my cake and eat it too, so to speak.

That’s not how the web works. The host (YouTube) serves the content, my user agent (Firefox and add-ons) renders it. Stop trying to turn the internet into cable TV.

YouTube can create its own client software (like it does for iOS/Android) and do what it wants. As long as it openly serves content via HTTP then I can render the content it sends anyway I want on my computer.

That requires me to be logged in, which is a no-go for me because they still use it to track me and come up with suggestions based on what I have viewed, which means I get an abominable amount of crap that is suggested and which I am no longer interested in (I watched 3 videos about the subject already, thank you very much) and even less privacy.

FWIW I turned off suggestions and I don't get recommendations anymore. Doesn't solve the tracking problem though.

Also it depends on the country too I guess. Like in India the same is available for 99 rs / month (129 rs if you wish to get yt music).

Not sure how long this will last but it's been the same since launch, so it's really a no brainer not to upgrade.

I just wish they offered a bundle with YouTube TV. I'd add this in a heartbeat to my YouTube TV service if it were $5-$6 per month extra as part of a bundle.

and it comes with a streaming music service that I personally believe is better than Spotify

Yeah, I don't technically pay for "YouTube Premium" but since it comes for "free" with my Google Play Music sub....well, cool.

On desktop I'd never notice (I haven't run without an adblocker for probably ten years), but on mobile it's a sanity saver.

On a side note, I switched from Play to Spotify in the last month because they kept trying to push me towards YT Music. The mobile app for YT Music is pretty trash, and the less Google I have in my life the better. Not to mention I was still getting ads on YT even though I had premium, I think the no-ads deal is for music videos only, not other YT videos.

> I think the no-ads deal is for music videos only, not other YT videos.

Not in my experience - and I use the mobile app daily (my lunchbreaks generally consist of catching up on the few folks I subscribe to).

I also haven't noticed any sort of push towards YT Music...But then again, I don't really "browse" Play Music either; I just press play on one of my previously found artists (using the Start Radio button) or search if I'm looking for someone I've not listened to before.

Have you noticed any change in audio quality between the two, GPM and Spotify? I've tried to poke at all the settings, and googled to learn more, but the Spotify recordings sound different. I'm trying to decide which i like better.

I haven't noticed a difference, but Spotify has like 5 different levels of quality for streaming in the settings. Were you using the equalizer in Play Music?

It's unfortunate they're phasing out of google play music and putting everyone on the Youtube Music app. I had to transfer all my music to it the other day. I still pay $9.99 for everything though and get to watch youtube ad free so I don't really mind but it's a bit of a bummer.