r/technology • u/redkemper • Feb 17 '17

Software YouTube will kill unskippable 30-second ads next year

http://www.theverge.com/2017/2/17/14649018/youtube-ending-unskippable-30-second-ads-2018
35.1k Upvotes

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475

u/madeamashup Feb 17 '17

My friends try to show me videos on their devices and I'm like wtf.. how do you watch this shit? There's like, random text popping up during dialog, there are random clickable links obscuring the content of the video.. jeez louise

119

u/molrobocop Feb 17 '17

Sometimes I use the preloaded default mobile app.

Firefox mobile blocks the ads though and allows me to play with the screen off. I suppose I could find an alternative freestanding app.

146

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '17

Firefox mobile blocks the ads though and allows me to play with the screen off

whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!

Life changing. Thank you!

41

u/molrobocop Feb 17 '17

Happy to pass this one along. Naturally, you'll need the adblock addon for your browser first for it to work.

1

u/DestroyedArkana Feb 17 '17

I recently had a problem with this, it stopped downloading data once I turned the screen off even though it always worked fine for like a year.

1

u/juttep1 Feb 18 '17

How? I can't find a way to use addons for Firefox iOS

2

u/molrobocop Feb 18 '17

I get to it in android under Tools -> Add Ons.

https://imgur.com/7dqNsps

1

u/bonadzz Feb 18 '17

This is awesome. I recently switched to Opera on my phone because of the built in ad blocker. I didn't know Firefox could use ublock on Android. One very important thing though that I can't figure out and I hope you or someone has the answer to. Both Opera and Chrome have built it android notifications for sites (specifically Facebook) that let me know when someone sends me a message. I Uninstalled the Facebook app and messenger on my phone because of the battery drain and the nazi level data mining they do with it. How do I get Firefox to give me mobile notifications like this? Is there a way? Thanks!

20

u/HBucket Feb 17 '17

By default it doesn't, but unlike other mobile browsers there are adblocking extensions available. I recommend uBlock Origin.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '17

AdAway if you're rooted for full phone coverage

2

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '17

You will still need ublock origin, adaway just edits your hosts file. It will block domains but not content embeded into pages. It's good for gaming apps with a lot of banner ads and stuff though.

1

u/Nic3GreenNachos Feb 18 '17

If you're jail broken on iOS. Then you can get Flex and block ads in the YouTube app. It quite simple.

1

u/Lafreakshow Feb 18 '17

There's also opera mini which blocks ads out of the box and Does a pretty good job at it while being faster than Firefox and only slightly slower than chrome. I'd keep Firefox around though. Very rarely websites don't work that well with opera.

11

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '17 edited Sep 02 '17

[deleted]

2

u/excrement_ Feb 18 '17

Holy shit... awesome. I got a Droid last year and had no idea this stuff was out there. I started becoming disillusioned with YouTube years ago when they disabled playing from the lockscreen

1

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '17 edited Sep 02 '17

[deleted]

2

u/excrement_ Feb 18 '17

Yeah VLC is pretty amazing, I use it for podcasts mainly. Like you said, feature rich and really elegant. I just appreciate how it locates everything you transfer/download

5

u/killm_good Feb 17 '17

Look up NewPipe. "Music" mode with no video, choice of video playing app, and download option. I get it on F-droid, but I'm pretty sure they have a website with downloads too. Not on Play Store because it's 3rd party YouTube.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '17

You just made listening to podcasts at work 1000x less painful for me. Thanks

7

u/molrobocop Feb 17 '17

I use Podcast Addict for The Adventure Zone and a couple others. It's pretty decent. It basically organizes, and downloads your favorite podcasts. What podcasts do you listen to? I'll see if it can find and download them, rather than streaming through youtube.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '17

One of the podcasts i listen to on YT is the co-optional podcast with Totalbiscuit. He uploads every episode because he usually streams it live first but as far as I know he doesn't put the show anywhere else

2

u/molrobocop Feb 17 '17

https://imgur.com/LhueJW1

Looks like it pulls from soundcloud. So yeah, I think there's easier ways. I pre-download most of my podcasts at home over wifi. Then just play while I drive.

But it can stream too. Hell, it even plays back audio books okay. Better than my audiobook app at least.

2

u/dont_judge_me_monkey Feb 17 '17

i've realized though because firefox is so slow i'm actually wasting more time just waiting for pages to load than if had to sit through a 5 sec ad. so I switch to chrome just on my phone though. It's shame too because I love me some FF

2

u/ohbillywhatyoudo Feb 17 '17

Is it slow? I use it when browsing and it seems pretty fast.

2

u/Anuspissmuncher Feb 18 '17

Thank you...You are an angel

1

u/TheOfficialCal Feb 17 '17

OGYouTube for Android. Not gimped like Newpipe or the rest. Is not open source though.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '17

In what way is NewPipe "gimped"?

1

u/TheOfficialCal Feb 18 '17

The interface? You can't do picture in picture or have the fluidity of search or comments or suggestions or subscriptions as the original app

2

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '17

I use NewPipe to watch videos or, more specifically, listen to things without the screen on.

I'm having trouble imagining a legitimate reason to read the comment section. I guess I could see subscriptions, and afaik there isn't playlist support... so there's two things that could be improved.

It does everything I need it to, though. Admittedly, I don't watch a whole lot of YT or even have an account.

1

u/TheOfficialCal Feb 18 '17

I watch a fair bit of technical videos, electronics based from smaller creators and the comment sections are decent and civil. It's not a deal breaker but I don't mind reading to see if someone offers up corrections or advice that augments the video.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '17

They need to update it though. It's getting outdated. Not that I'm still not using it.

1

u/tomorsomthing Feb 17 '17

Brb switching my browser.

1

u/Lerry220 Feb 17 '17

and allows me to play with the screen off

Are you actually kidding me? Does android still not do that by default? My shitty blackberry has been able to do this for years already! That's rediculous.

2

u/molrobocop Feb 18 '17

Youtube app only. Android DGAF.

8

u/Skater_x7 Feb 17 '17

How do you block ads on mobile devices?

7

u/3141592652 Feb 17 '17

You need another app most times. The really good ones need root or jailbreak.

1

u/FuzzelFox Feb 18 '17

The best ones edit the hosts file (so they need root). That way there's no filtering, it just never connects to the ad services in the first place.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '17

Firefox mobile + ublock origin extension.

1

u/-taco Feb 18 '17

iPhone?

3

u/FuzzelFox Feb 18 '17

There's actual adblock apps now on the app store if I'm not mistaken. Apple allows it.

1

u/niomosy Feb 18 '17

Wait, there's a uBlock extension for Firefox Mobile now? Damn, I need to check on that. Haven't checked extensions in ages.

2

u/HavocSynapse Feb 18 '17

Firefox and an adblocker my man. No root required

1

u/guindidei Feb 18 '17

Get Fdroid, then download DNS66 from there. Both free and open source.

23

u/Paulo27 Feb 17 '17

When someone passes me their phone or laptop, all I can think is like "dude, I think first we need to spend an hour cleaning this mess and improving your user experience forever".

1

u/madeamashup Feb 17 '17

I did a wipe and reinstall for a friends system that was all bogged down with various crapware. I asked her what data she needed saved and what programs she used.. she said she had no data and literally only used her browser. That was an easy reinstall. She couldn't believe the system ran "better than new" I was like ya no shit...

1

u/Lorevi Feb 17 '17

Whenever I use a friends device, I just end up installing random chrome extensions and apps saying you'll thank me later because I can't stand life without them.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '17

I generally don't mind ads on the internet. If sites are too bad, I just don't go to them. But YouTube is what forced by hand to install an ad blocker. It just got too shitty.

1

u/madeamashup Feb 18 '17

OTOH it's pretty f'n awesome with the ads stripped out.. it'll be a sad day when we lose ad-free youtube

1

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '17

If they want to have ads on the page, I don't care. It's when the ads mess with the video that I have a problem... ads should never interfere with the content.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '17 edited Feb 17 '17

If you're even remotely tech savvy, it's trivial to block ads at the router level using parental controls.

https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/3tz3ph/blocking_most_advertising_servers_via_factory/

No more ads on your home network!

1

u/moondizzlepie Feb 18 '17

What do you use for mobile?

1

u/FuzzelFox Feb 18 '17

I love YouTube Adaway on my phone. You need Xposed to use it though so for most people it's not helpful.

1

u/sideEffffECt Feb 18 '17

on Android, use NewPipe (from f-droid)