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Re:Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your d... by dspillett on Tuesday May 05, 2026 @07:19AM (#48020917)
Even youtube's app itself doesn't allow that unless you pay. I suspect they've nobbled most browsers into not allowing it, either by technical measures or (more likely) the strong-arm tactic of saying “if you don't block this we'll find a way to make the entire of youtube practically unusable on your browser”.

I've been using Grayjay recently which does allow that, amongst a number of other useful features (integrating other media sources, lack of adverts every few minutes in some content). Might be worth considering as an option.

Re:Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your d... by phs318u on Tuesday May 05, 2026 @07:45AM (#48021146)
Kagi’s Orion browser on iOS is able to play YT vids in the background.
Re:Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your d... by dspillett on Wednesday May 06, 2026 @05:10AM (#48034030)
I suspect that if youtube's metric show that enough people are doing that (without paid accounts) it'll stop by default for the same reasons it stopped in FF.