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I want to block YouTube ads in Safari. I can easily block them in Brave, Google Chrome, and Firefox but I was not successful in Safari.

I have tried 1Blocker and Ghostery both in free version but they were not able to block ads in YouTube. I am unable to use AdGuard due to following issue (AdGuard services were not started correctly). And there is no https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock that works in Safari.

Warning: It is not possible for extensions like uBlock Origin to work with Safari 13+. See el1t#158.

I was wondering is there any way to block YouTube ads in Safari. YouTube became greedy and they give 30 second ads after each video, which is pretty annoying.

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  • I use paid video stream controller for Safari called Dynamo which allows skipping video ads. It serves my needs fairly well but this is not automatic blocker - you need to press E (exit) on keyboard every time video add starts and you want to skip it.
    – Aivar Paalberg
    May 2, 2022 at 10:29

2 Answers 2

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I am now using Vinegar.app and it works very well.

What it basically does is that it queries the video as though it was requested onto an iPad with at least 1080p resolution, and probably send a refresh request immediately once the video hyperlink was started to load. (This prevents the playing of video ads on iOS and iPadOS, but was not made available for macOS by YouTube)

Pros

Additional advantages other than 0 video ads include that

  • one no longer has to confirm "[they are] there", video playback won’t pause on its own;
  • videos won't jump to any random YouTube-choice video;
  • the "replay" button with same label not only is available after, but throughout playback too;
  • there is a working "loop" button which keeps the video playing if activated;
  • videos can be popped out as a floating window to play outside of Safari altogether;
  • video resolution may be preset to "best [available]"; and
  • left and right arrows to jump 15 seconds never screw up by increasing or decreasing volume (volume is controlled by the up and down arrow if you hover over the volume virtual button).

Cons

Three shortcomings of this solution are that

  • the next song and previous song buttons in playlists are not available if in use;
  • no thumbnail preview of the video when hovering the pointer over the video timeline; and
  • the "best" resolution option may occasionally fail (exhibited this issue when the resolution was 1st changed).
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  • I switch into using github.com/FreeTubeApp/FreeTube seems like cleanest youtube tool without their tracks and ads
    – alper
    Jul 1, 2022 at 11:23
  • Baking Soda is great for handling videos from all other websites.
    – Matt
    Jan 20, 2023 at 20:45
  • Baking Soda is not free to use as well :-(
    – alper
    Jan 21, 2023 at 14:55
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You could always subscribe to Youtube Premium. While it does cost money, it only costs around the same as a Netflix subscription. Hosting unlimited videos for people across the world isn't free - the money for the servers Youtube runs can't come out of nowhere.

This may not be the answer you're looking for, but it's what I see as the more moral option. You are free to disagree, but please don't downvote just because you don't want to pay money - this is a valid solution.

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    Since you implicated “moral[s]”, and financial aspects on the part of YouTube, I am downvoting because YouTube’s pricing disregard insurmountable inequalities of people around the world. YouTube have also no moral standing to demand a single penny when for over a decade, it grew as a result of disregard to copyright owners’ infringements. YT is a Silicon Valley-money powered piracy site & has always been. Hence, the conclusory assertion that “[one] could always [pay for a] subscri[ption]” is knowing material false statement , & “[one] could always subscribe” is categorically false.
    – Kortelly Zamatosh
    Sep 29, 2022 at 15:13
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    @KortellyZamatosh I agree that Google doesn't necessarily need the money, especially given all the data they collect on people and the money they already make. The comments section of the Internet is definitely not the proper place to argue the morality of piracy, and given that the issue certainly isn't black and white, I'm not going to try to. As a consumer, I recognize that when Youtube starts putting five unskippable ads in front of videos, people are going to be upset. I also recognize that not everyone can afford Youtube Premium. I'm just offering a solution to prevent ads on Safari.
    – 2br-2b
    Sep 30, 2022 at 17:37
  • I see the problem this way: i almost never watch/click on ads on youtube, so this is a waste of time for me and for them.
    – Cristi Băluță
    Nov 23, 2022 at 18:09

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