3 ms·

In a word, way less free. And more commercials. All you pirates with your archives and torrents. You are Luke Skywalker here.

benbristow 1y ago
SmartTube on Android TV. Brilliant, makes YouTube usable, Sponsorblock baked in.
- analog8374 1y ago
  So I'm watching a thing on youtube. 5 minutes in I get a commercial. SmartTube can seamlessly delete that commercial?
  - benbristow 1y ago
    Yes, no ads from Google's side and ads by creators themselves (e.g. Raid Shadow Legends, SquareSpace, Manscaped, NordVPN etc. etc.) get skipped via a community-sourced database called Sponsorblock. https://sponsor.ajay.app/ https://sponsor.ajay.app/ (Sponsorblock is also available as a browser extension for most browsers but has an open API for other developers to use)
- Workaccount2 1y ago
  I don't understand why you wouldn't just get yt premium. You get the same features and it pays out well. YouTube premium views are like gold nuggets for creators.
  - benbristow 1y ago
    No Sponsorblock (so doesn't block ads by creators themselves, the cliches like NordVPN/SquareSpace etc. you have to manually skip) They also keep upping the price every so often. SmartTube is free. I had YouTube Premium via a VPN subscription then they cracked down on it, sod em! Why do I have to pay more because I'm a Brit than if I were an Indian? Don't bull me on "because I live in a Western country I've got a better salary etc.". If they can afford to provide it to Indians for a lower price then why would it cost them more to provide it to me? Same bandwidth costs. Greed.
  - pzmarzly 1y ago
    Does YT Premium have something Luke SponsorBlock? Can I press a button to remove Shorts from search results? Can I reenable seeing dislikes under videos to know which ones are not worth watching? If not, then I still need to have a custom app/browser extension... at which point why would I pay for subscription anyway?
  - leptons 1y ago
    I use Smarttube and I pay for Youtube premium, I guess I am an edge case. The Youtube app has nowhere near the customizable features Smarttube has. And I can completely block all "shorts" using Smarttube. I pay for Youtube premium because I also often use Youtube in a web browser, so no ads there is still helpful.
  - akimbostrawman 1y ago
    "I don't understand why you wouldn't just give the platform that continually gets worse your money for a slightly less worse experience" I can't believe anybody who did not start using youtube yesterday would ever consider rewarding them. The sheer amount of overwhelmingly negative and widely disliked shit they do every single year for the last decade is staggering.
- giobox 1y ago
  Sponsor block is much less useful now Premium subscriptions have the "skip commonly skipped section" feature, which is always the sponsored content. With the addition of this, you can avoid ads and sponsors well enough now on Premium for me. I was pleasantly surprised YouTube came out with a first party tool to skip sponcon. > https://dataconomy.com/2025/07/30/youtubes-ai-powered-jump-ahead-feature-is-now-on-your-tv/ https://dataconomy.com/2025/07/30/youtubes-ai-powered-jump-a...
  - benbristow 1y ago
    I can imagine creators aren't going to be happy about that. Can't see it lasting long.
    - giobox 1y ago
      Perhaps, but its been a while now and AFAIK has been rolled out to all of YouTube's apps, even the integrated TV ones.
    - Gigachad 1y ago
      It only shows up for YouTube premium users, and premium user views pay more than ad supported views. I’m sure they would much rather a premium user watches and skips the sponsor section than the usual HN viewer who has ads and sponsor sections blocked.
  - leptons 1y ago
    Sponsorblock is only one small part of the great features of Smarttube. Completely removing all "shorts" is the reason I switched to it. And the UI is very customizable, where the Youtube app is not customizable at all. Smarttube has unlocked so much potential that the Youtube app just doesn;t offer.
dmix 1y ago
Youtube subscription is worth it IMO. No ads, just have to deal with live reads but youtube has a skip button for those.
- ac29 1y ago
  > just have to deal with live reads Sponsorblock takes care of >95% of those.
wilg 1y ago
There are no commercials with YouTube Premium, which is totally worth it. Why people feel entitled to pirate things still is incredible. People fundamentally hate paying artists for their work even though it's incredibly cheap, because they can come up with some bogus way to blame a corporation and feel, like you said here, laughably, like Luke Skywalker. Insane.
- analog8374 1y ago
  What is the greater contribution to society, the movie or the money paid to see the movie?
- lotsoweiners 1y ago
  Youtube premium is like $15/mo. I believe it was more for the family plan I used to have. I canceled it like a year ago and don’t feel I miss it at all. I just don’t think Google is a company I should ever give money to directly. If some 3rd party service blocked YouTube for $15/mo I’d be more inclined to pay them vs Google.
- LocalH 1y ago
  Avoiding commercials isn't piracy

benbristow 1y ago

SmartTube on Android TV. Brilliant, makes YouTube usable, Sponsorblock baked in.

analog8374 1y ago
So I'm watching a thing on youtube. 5 minutes in I get a commercial. SmartTube can seamlessly delete that commercial?
- benbristow 1y ago
  Yes, no ads from Google's side and ads by creators themselves (e.g. Raid Shadow Legends, SquareSpace, Manscaped, NordVPN etc. etc.) get skipped via a community-sourced database called Sponsorblock. https://sponsor.ajay.app/ https://sponsor.ajay.app/ (Sponsorblock is also available as a browser extension for most browsers but has an open API for other developers to use)
Workaccount2 1y ago
I don't understand why you wouldn't just get yt premium. You get the same features and it pays out well. YouTube premium views are like gold nuggets for creators.
- benbristow 1y ago
  No Sponsorblock (so doesn't block ads by creators themselves, the cliches like NordVPN/SquareSpace etc. you have to manually skip) They also keep upping the price every so often. SmartTube is free. I had YouTube Premium via a VPN subscription then they cracked down on it, sod em! Why do I have to pay more because I'm a Brit than if I were an Indian? Don't bull me on "because I live in a Western country I've got a better salary etc.". If they can afford to provide it to Indians for a lower price then why would it cost them more to provide it to me? Same bandwidth costs. Greed.
- pzmarzly 1y ago
  Does YT Premium have something Luke SponsorBlock? Can I press a button to remove Shorts from search results? Can I reenable seeing dislikes under videos to know which ones are not worth watching? If not, then I still need to have a custom app/browser extension... at which point why would I pay for subscription anyway?
- leptons 1y ago
  I use Smarttube and I pay for Youtube premium, I guess I am an edge case. The Youtube app has nowhere near the customizable features Smarttube has. And I can completely block all "shorts" using Smarttube. I pay for Youtube premium because I also often use Youtube in a web browser, so no ads there is still helpful.
- akimbostrawman 1y ago
  "I don't understand why you wouldn't just give the platform that continually gets worse your money for a slightly less worse experience" I can't believe anybody who did not start using youtube yesterday would ever consider rewarding them. The sheer amount of overwhelmingly negative and widely disliked shit they do every single year for the last decade is staggering.
giobox 1y ago
Sponsor block is much less useful now Premium subscriptions have the "skip commonly skipped section" feature, which is always the sponsored content. With the addition of this, you can avoid ads and sponsors well enough now on Premium for me. I was pleasantly surprised YouTube came out with a first party tool to skip sponcon. > https://dataconomy.com/2025/07/30/youtubes-ai-powered-jump-ahead-feature-is-now-on-your-tv/ https://dataconomy.com/2025/07/30/youtubes-ai-powered-jump-a...
- benbristow 1y ago
  I can imagine creators aren't going to be happy about that. Can't see it lasting long.
  - giobox 1y ago
    Perhaps, but its been a while now and AFAIK has been rolled out to all of YouTube's apps, even the integrated TV ones.
  - Gigachad 1y ago
    It only shows up for YouTube premium users, and premium user views pay more than ad supported views. I’m sure they would much rather a premium user watches and skips the sponsor section than the usual HN viewer who has ads and sponsor sections blocked.
- leptons 1y ago
  Sponsorblock is only one small part of the great features of Smarttube. Completely removing all "shorts" is the reason I switched to it. And the UI is very customizable, where the Youtube app is not customizable at all. Smarttube has unlocked so much potential that the Youtube app just doesn;t offer.

dmix 1y ago

Youtube subscription is worth it IMO. No ads, just have to deal with live reads but youtube has a skip button for those.

ac29 1y ago
> just have to deal with live reads Sponsorblock takes care of >95% of those.

wilg 1y ago

There are no commercials with YouTube Premium, which is totally worth it. Why people feel entitled to pirate things still is incredible. People fundamentally hate paying artists for their work even though it's incredibly cheap, because they can come up with some bogus way to blame a corporation and feel, like you said here, laughably, like Luke Skywalker. Insane.

analog8374 1y ago
What is the greater contribution to society, the movie or the money paid to see the movie?
lotsoweiners 1y ago
Youtube premium is like $15/mo. I believe it was more for the family plan I used to have. I canceled it like a year ago and don’t feel I miss it at all. I just don’t think Google is a company I should ever give money to directly. If some 3rd party service blocked YouTube for $15/mo I’d be more inclined to pay them vs Google.
LocalH 1y ago
Avoiding commercials isn't piracy