I use the Wipr ad block extension and then just safari. I can’t bare YouTube ads.
this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2025
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Privacy
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Personally I host a private Invidious instance for my partner and I. We both use the iOS version of Yattee. It’s not great and there are quite a few bugs, both in Invidious and Yattee, but it works well enough for the occasional video. Invidious doesn’t support ads and Yattee has build-in SponserBlock, which works well.
I just watch YouTube signed out in Safari. It is very easy to build your algorithm from there. I don't mind the ads since I don't watch YouTube mainly on my phone and I occasionally clear cookies.
You can also install Orion Browser, made by Kagi creators of a privacy focused paid search engine, which supports Firefox extensions like uBLock but I don't think it is open source right now but It will be soon.
Orion Browser on iOS/iPadOS is compatible with (some, not all) Firefox/Chrome addons. Add SponsorBlock for YouTube, uBlock Origin and Video Background Play Fix from addons.mozilla.org and use the YouTube website as is?
Used to run my own Invidious instance I used with Yattee but it got banned and then for some reason ate shit and died completely.
Reminder that Orion is not open source, but it is made by a reputable company Kagi. They will make it open source soon though.
add-ons on Orion
It's great to know that they are working better now, last time I tried almost none was functionnal and it was quite a pain to install / uninstall / switch source (Firefox / Chrome version) in the hopes of it finally working. I’ll have a look, since then I’ve been using Brave + piHole and it was more or less decent.
Damn, this Orion I’m hearing about seems really promising
I like Unwatched but I’m uncertain if its privacy respecting. Most likely isn’t.
It does say app doesn’t collect any data which is a good sign. Obviously not 100% guaranteed but it’s in the right direction. Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll give it a try.
On iOS I don't know, but searching the YT Video with Andisearch you can watch it in the list of search results (in mobile below the chat part), with random proxie and sandboxed.
Unwatched
Can’t say I have recommendations but would love to hear some as well. Especially an adblocker.
Yeah most good ones I’m finding are for Android only
Hm, I wonder why that is...
Can't be at all to do with the fact that Android has a much more open development and installation platform than a famously locked down device. Most FOSS developers use Android, and write app's for devices like those ones that they own. The better question is, why not just use Android and use something like LibreTube? In terms of cost, Android devices are much cheaper, and in terms of capability, they're more capable.
Can't be at all to do with the fact that Android has a much more open development and installation platform
Less to do with the "development platform" and more to do with the fact that you literally can't install them on iOS devices because Apple would never approve them, and you need their blessing to get it installed.
In terms of cost, Android devices are much cheaper
Used to be. Not so much anymore. At least not the high end ones. Google reached price parity with Apple in the last generation.
I knew a comment telling me to just get an Android phone was coming. I borrowed a friend’s for some app development and I’m aware it’s much better. I dislike Apple’s closed OS too, I usually jailbreak my devices. But my iPhone 14 works and I’m not paying for an expensive new phone. Getting a cheaper phone would be a downgrade. I’ll get a Google Pixel with Graphene when my phone dies or gets lost.
I’ll get a Google Pixel with Graphene when my phone dies or gets lost.
ONE OF US, ONE OF US
I have an iPad... But I think I would have been happy with with one of those gaming tablets that basically a regular laptop without a keyboard.
YouTube OLED comes with Adblocker, sponsor block, return of dislike button, offline player, or background play and many more features. You can sideload it using Sidestore; however, I’m unsure about its privacy. (That’s what I personally use).
I'm not sure how effective that no tracking thing is
Not sure what you mean but you can disable tracking in any YT account. It's in the settings.
I'd say use the website through Safari. Install AdGuard, SponsorBlock, and Vinegar, and it should be smooth sailing. Return YouTube Dislike is available as a UserScript.
Brave and DuckDuckGo also provide nice experiences with YouTube, but thry sadly do not have SponsorBlock or Return YouTube Dislike.
If you really need an app, though, give uYouPlus a try.
What's the point of using Return YouTube Dislike if it's not accurate?
It gives you an estimate. I haven't used actual YouTube in a while, though. Just Invidious and yt-dlp.
Is there a reason why you are not using the regular youtube? Just curious since I currently use YouTube website signed out on iOS. Invidious does not have recommendations aswell.
Well, I don't need recommendations for a start. I can see the appeal, but my subscription feed is good enough for me.
Also, YouTube is incredibly heavy in comparison, and I personally believe it's better to avoid tracking in the first place than to jump through hoops to cripple or block it, so Invidious and yt-dlp are the obvious solutions for me.
You think using uBlock and a VPN while signed out with a good browser isn't good enough? Agree YouTube is heavy but only if you have like 8gb of ram with lots of videos open
With one exception, all of my machines have 8GB or less, and I use a Firefox-based browser on desktop (Goigle deliberately slows down their services on non-Chrome browsers). Also, YouTube does have server-side tracking, and I need to be able to manage my subscriptions. I could use RSS, but I already have a reader installed for news and I don't want it getting cluttered.
uBlock and Mullvad is a great combo, and I am known to use the main site if both Invidious and yt-dlp aren't working; but the fact remains that Invidious is the inherently more private option.