Need to do something on YouTube but get distracted by recommended videos? Use "No Distractions" for YouTube to hide distractions and stay on task!
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*NOTE: WORKS WITHIN SAFARI, NOT THE YOUTUBE APP*: This app lets you control how YouTube appears in the Safari browser. It does NOT change the YouTube app, as this is not possible. However, you can create an icon on your iPhone/iPad's home screen to take you directly to YouTube in the Safari browser, to make this just as easy as opening the app.
To do so: Open Safari, go to youtube.com and press the sharing icon (with the up-arrow), press 'Add to Home Screen' and 'Add'.
*NOTE 2: For an extension that works on ALL websites (not just YouTube), use ReDD Focus instead*
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"No Distractions" for YouTube is an open-source Safari App Extension I built to help myself. It lets you take control over your use of YouTube instead of letting the YouTube algorithms control you...!
It does this by letting you hide video recommendations, other distractions on the front, search, and watch pages, or any custom element you want. You can also choose to hide thumbnail images. Oh, and the app also also hides the ads that are inserted in your search results. :)
You can decide for yourself which parts you want to see, by clicking the extension icon.
If you want the app to remember your settings for next time, click 'save settings'.
If you need to add a little friction to change the settings, so that you don't turn distractions back on too easily, you can set a wait time. This will make you wait e.g. 5 seconds when you open the settings before they appear.
The app is open source and does not collect any data. You can inspect the source code, report bugs, and suggest additional features or improvements on: https://github.com/ulyngs/open-source-no-distractions-for-youtube
And perfect too. I aaaallmost wrote a bad review because didnt understand how to make the app work. I did not know that this app is essentially an extension. Never know Safari had extensions! What you have to do is go to Safari’s search bar, hit the double As on the left and go to “Manage Extensions” to turn on the extension. The instructions are in the app but I didnt understand. But I got it quickly. I also was hesitant to put this on my phone because I didnt know if I can trust this app. But according to Apple itself, all apps in the store have been vetted, so. This app will keep me on track and help curb my internet addiction. So thanks to the developer
Buy this for yourself
Charredskeleton
If you buy just one thing for yourself this year make it this app. This is a browser extension for safari who’s app lays out exactly how to install and configure it. Was very easy to set up and use. It leaves settings such as dark mode unchanged . Thumbnails for search results can be blocked or blurred by tapping the box next that heading, tap multiple times to cycle through blur/block/on.
Expand comments!
Just Trying to Read
Just downloaded and it seems to work fine on Mac OS Monterey. However, when comments are toggled on, the option to expand the comment is not there.I'm using this app to listen to my YT music playlist videos without distractions, and often the timestamps for the playlist are in the comments. It would be lovely if the option to expand comments was added!
Developer Response
Hi there! Thanks for flagging this -- I am not entirely sure what you mean by 'the option to expand the comment'? Are you able to send a screenshot to ulrik.lyngs@cs.ox.ac.uk and I will try fixing this? :)
Does what it says on the tin
PChReviews
Wish I had an option to just show the top 2 videos on on the right hand bar. esp given that hiding the whole thing bugs out the player right now. Wish it had an option to filter subscription list though, but that would just end up being a page with bookmarks.
Hi folks,
A long overdue update (we're mostly just working on ReDD Focus these days, which is the general version of "No Distraction" for YouTube) with bug fixes and improvements:
1. removed "Entire right sidebar" as functionality replaced by Cinema mode - users can still hide "Related/Up next videos"
2. hiding subscriptions now also hides list of subscribed-to channels
3. "Library" has been renamed to "You" and now hides the entire "You" section on desktop and the "You" tab on mobile
4. fix the "Explore" hiding functionality
5. make "View numbers" hide view count on all pages
Cheers,
Ulrik
Version 4.9
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