Comment by hombre_fatal

Comment by hombre_fatal 5 days ago

This kind of control is what we miss out on when we leave web apps for native apps.

Ideally this would just be a simple browser plugin.

But the app requires major accessibility permissions so that it can access the API it needs to see into the Android apps, something that doesn't even exist on iOS. Just to do what should amount things like deleting a ".reels" component.

That said, props to OP for figuring out how to build such a feature for mobile. Most of the Show HN's in this space are desktop-only thus kinda useless.

Atlas667 5 days ago

I've tried adding rules to ublock origin but sites like youtube and many others now have "component obfuscation". Meaning there is no unique ID on their components/elements and it makes it much harder to target.

And some element titles/names are even on a different component than the content, which is even harder still. So it says "reels" on one component and the actual reels are on another.

Blocking now has to be a logical combination of CSS selection, text identification and a target-action component.

Reply View 5 replies

upboundspiral 5 days ago

I agree U-Block origin is sometimes hit or miss. What has restored some faith for me was recently discovering that when I use the element picker and select something I want blocked it gives me a list at the bottom right of things it recognized, and if I click through them I can often find exactly what I want to block though often its not the default element anymore. It's not perfect but it has massively improved my satisfaction with Ublock and general enjoyment of being online.

Reply View | 0 replies
hombre_fatal 5 days ago

Good point. I remember Facebook doing obfuscation just to hide the word "sponsored" long ago just so you couldn't easily hide its ads.
That said, they put up a fight in the browser because user interventions (browser plugins, greasemonkey scripts, ad blockers) are viable in the browser but not in native apps.
Though this is also why they want to force you to use their app, and I'm not sure how to incentivize apps to even exist as websites. It feels like a dying fluke that places like Reddit even maintain a web frontend for their app.

Reply View | 0 replies
hypercube33 5 days ago

I think unTrap for Chrome based browsers works. It also is a scary level of plugin, but have it limited to Youtube.

Reply View | 0 replies
squigz 5 days ago

What are you not able to block on YouTube? I've had all ads, shorts, those games, etc blocked successfully for years.

Reply View | 1 reply
- Atlas667 4 days ago
  
  Usually selecting is something like .class.subclass:nth-child(4).
  Which will sometimes block what you want, but not always since they switch their layout so much.
  You need conditions.
  Its really finnicky to get right and I usually want to block views on cards, recommended tabs, trending and I have to redo it every 2 or 3 weeks.
  
  Reply View | 0 replies

baduiux 5 days ago

Native apps can in many ways be better than web apps but they definitely lack the client side control that a web app (or any website) comes with. The user is sadly just a consumer and the product at the same time without an opinion.

What I also don’t like are companies that more and more push the user into using the native (I.e. installed) app over the website. I use almost all apps in browser (YouTube, LinkedIn) and the LinkedIn website has a “this content is only visible in the LinkedIn app” banner that is so prominent, it’s disgusting. You’re unable to see details of people changing their job / completing a degree and you’re unable to see the list of “visitors of your profile” (even though this is a silly feature).

On iOS I use YouTube in the browser for a single reason: ads are not shown and/or skippable by reloading the site. Sometimes I use the YouTube app on an iPad and the advertisement experience is so bad. I highly recommend using YouTube in browser (Safari).

Since I’m also somewhat addicted to short, but only use YouTube, I’ve built a chrome+safari extension that allows me to watch X shorts (for longer than 1sec) before closing the page and redirecting me to a different page (whatever you want). This is quite helpful. You can check it out [here](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/youtube-shorts-trac...). I also use it on iOS via the Safari extension but I haven’t published it yet.

Reply View 0 replies