People will do anything to not have to give money to YouTube.
Over the last few months, some YouTube users have noticed a new popup message warning them to turn off their installed ad-blocking apps in order to continue watching videos on the service. Now, according to a report from Wired, popular ad-blocking apps like Ghostery and AdGuard are seeing record numbers of uninstallations, with users largely citing the YouTube rules as a reason for it.
However, that doesn’t mean those users are just accepting YouTube’s copious advertisements or paying for YouTube Premium ($13.99/mo) to get rid of them the preferred way. Instead, as Android Authority noted and as you can easily find on Reddit, people are frantically searching for working alternatives.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a free alternative that’s guaranteed to work perfectly on an indefinite basis right now.
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One popular browser extension called uBlock Origin seems to be the easiest and best bet right now, with users claiming it works best on Firefox (though it’s worked for me on Chrome, too).
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AdGuard‘s paid tier also seems to work, per Android Authority.
Some folks are switching browsers to Firefox or even Microsoft Edge just to find a way to watch YouTube videos in peace.
The problem with this is that YouTube will almost certainly weed out working alternatives over time, so some degree of adaptability may be required here on the user end. Or, you could just give in and pay for YouTube Premium. It’s not fun or ideal, but you can at least guarantee it’ll work.
