4 ms·

Show HN: NoSuggest – Watch YouTube without the recommendation algorithm

60 points by VJ-2-108 4mo ago

NoSuggest is a quiet act of resistance against YouTube algorithms always trying to pull you into a loop of unlimited videos in turn into unlimited screen time. With unending side cards of videos, auto-play, what's next suggestions, YouTube shorts and notifications, users will be doom scrolling for many hours in a day. I faced the same problem. Acknowledging that, not all content in YouTube is bad. There are educational videos, genuine news contents without political bias which is very hard to find outside YouTube and many other good relaxing, entertainment stuff. NoSuggest lets you only follow the YouTube channels you like and removes all types of recommendation YouTube has. So you don't waste time on watching things which you never wanted to watch anyways. UI is very simple. You add your favourite channels in "Channels" tab and latest 5 videos per channel excluding shorts would appear in "Feed" tab. "Search" tab is to search for specific videos to watch and "Saved" tab is to bookmark any video you want to watch later. Intention of NoSuggest is to provide whatever is necessary to extract whats good from YouTube all inside NoSuggest and leave out bad parts. NoSuggest works in any devices. Install it as an app (PWA) in android and iPhone, or simply open in browser in laptops. No sign-in, no account creation or no card details. NoSuggest won't even ask your name. Total privacy for the users. Parents can add the channels and save some educational videos and lock it with the pin for kids mode. Kids won't be able access unwanted additive contents inside NoSuggest. Completely free, no string attached. Source available in Github through NoSuggest website. I would love genuine feedback. Thank you very much for your attention on this matter.

deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]
doorpheus 4mo ago
This is fantastic, I've been using the DF youtube browser extension for a while but will definitely start using this. It's great there's no accounts or sign-up needed.
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  Thank you! Yes, no account or sign-up to reduce any friction. Please provide feedback when you use it.
alarsama 4mo ago
This is exactly what I have been looking for. It's way too easy to get lost in the auto-suggested videos and shorts on YouTube. It was also always a hassle keeping up a local Invidious instance up and running in my homelab. Thank you so much for creating this! I'll try it out for a few days and provide feedback.
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  Glad to know you liked it. Thank you! Yes, please keep using it and provide feedback after using for few days.
  - alarsama 4mo ago
    Some things I noticed right off the bat: - I'd recommend adding a way to add multiple channels at once. The current workflow works great for adding a single channel, but it was tedious to add more than one channel. I imagine most people using this service will add many channels at the beginning. - I'd like to be able to keep the same channel selections on multiple devices. Accounts and/or sync would probably be a lot of overhead to implement. Maybe some kind of unique link that contains a list of channels, like how PCPartPicker creates unique links for each build? - Someone else mentioned this, and I'd like to +1 it - clicking the channel in the Channels section does nothing, when I'd expect it to show the channel's videos. Other than that, I love it! Great work!
    - VJ-2-108 4mo ago
      [flagged]
atema 4mo ago
I like watching streams from a few authors, but I'm not interested in their videos. Your website now shows only videos. Could you also add streams? And it would also be useful to have a setting for hiding streams and videos - for people like me. Another point: it would make sense to be able to access all videos from a channel rather than the last five videos. And a small thing: the channels in the Channels tab are not clickable - seems counterintuitive.
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  Thank you for the detailed feedback. Really useful. On streams: I never thought about it as an use-case. Thank you for bring it up. Will look into it. Showing 5 videos/channel is intentional. Idea is to only surface latest videos and not re-create a scroll feed like Youtube. But if I get more feedback from users that it is too restrictive then I can easily make it to recent 10 or 15 videos. What do you feel as an appropriate number of recent videos per channel is? Good catch on the channels tab. Currently it just manages your list. Tapping a channel to jump to their feed section is a neat idea though, will look into adding it.
  - atema 4mo ago
    You're welcome! Thanks for considering changes based on my suggestions. I think 5 videos per channel is an appropriate limit. I understand what you want to achieve with this. But suppose I want to watch an older video from the same channel. A simple 'Expand' button would do the trick. Otherwise I'd have to go to YouTube which I wanted to avoid in the first place. And I think you don't have to stick to a certain number of videos as the only type of limit. How about showing as many videos as would fit within the width of the window?
    - VJ-2-108 4mo ago
      In previous versions, I had a direct YouTube channel link in the feed. So if user wants to see more than 5 videos of that channel then clicking on the link would take them directly to YouTube channel where they can find all the videos. But I got many users feedback that "making easy access to YouTube would be counter-intuitive and if they want to find a particular video obviously they know the search keywords and they can search for it in search tab." So scrolling videos or YouTube direct link was removed. The Expand idea is interesting though, will think about it. Thank you.
seirim 4mo ago
hi, my feedback is that I would like to be able to create an account, because I have my browser (Firefox) set to always clear all cookies and history on shutdown, so when I re-open this later I assume all my added channels would be lost, and would need to start from scratch. If it wasn't for that, I think it's great and would use it.
- NewJazz 4mo ago
  Maybe wrap it in tauri?
  - VJ-2-108 4mo ago
    Interesting idea but that moves it away from being a zero install web app which is core to what NoSuggest is. The PWA angle is the whole point, especially for mobile.
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  Hey Seirim, totally valid concern. The app uses localStorage so yes, clearing cookies/history on shutdown would wipe your channels. Accounts are off the table for now since the whole point is zero sign-in friction and zero data collection. But if it helps, you can download the PWA app to your mobile and use it. Thank you very much! Hoping NoSuggest would be useful to you in any ways.
  - seirim 4mo ago
    Ok, there must be a way, though, just encrypt the personal channels chose with the user's password so you don't know what they have chosen, and don't track anything? And I think most people aren't too worried about it being known what their favorite 10 channels are, for example, yeah? And if you don't track what they actually watch at all, that info isn't very interesting.
    - VJ-2-108 4mo ago
      That is a fair point and I hear you. The encrypted account idea is interesting. How about an export/import feature where you can save your channel list as a file and reload it anytime, or even a shareable link that encodes your channels in the URL like PCPartPicker does with builds. It would be faster than login. And no account creation and no tracking as promised. Would that solve your problem?
frankieg33 4mo ago
I made a podcast feed from YT with podsync so that I can take videos on the go. I use the playlist feature to pull them down. this feels like a great way for me to pull out only select videos. a direct way to put vids on a feed would be great, but understand if that doesnt make any sense. thanks for putting it together. an option for no thumbnails, or just the first screen instead ot thumbnails + lower case titles also helps lower the lizard brain pull even further.
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  [dead]
mrtesthah 4mo ago
This is desperately needed. I currently use https://freetubeapp.io/ https://freetubeapp.io/ but this seems to have more flexible deployment options.
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  FreeTube is great but it is a desktop app you have to install. NoSuggest works on any device straight from the browser, especially mobile where nothing else really works. Give it a go and let me know what you think please. Looking forward for your valuable feedback.
zuzululu 4mo ago
This is a welcome output, it is quite tiring to be stuck on Youtube for hours. Anything that can: - break the algorithm - help reduce time on there - discover organically Would have a huge product market fit. We are all zonked from the algorithm saturation. One thing I recently started doing is use the before: search filter ex) playthroughs before: 2010 I think its really neat that we've had Youtube for such a long time its become sort of a Archive.org on its own I especially take great joy in watching people with low subscriber count or Youtube videos from before 2015 I feel like that was the inflection point where you just had a lot of freedom to speak your mind without the permanently online crowd getting offended by everything.
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  Yes, I 100% agree with you. Thank you for bringing it up. And date filter: that is a fun way to use YouTube. The search tab in NoSuggest lets you search for specific videos without recommendations creeping in around them, so you can do that kind of intentional digging. Date filtering isn't there though. And the feed only shows the latest 5 videos per channel so it won't surface older content.
fret423 4mo ago
Could this work on a TV YouTube app? LG / Samsung.
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  Sorry, it won't work like a YouTube app in TV. But if you can install a browser to your smart TV and access the URL then it will work just like in laptop.
rmnclmnt 4mo ago
Is this using the youtube per-channel RSS feeds? For people already using RSS feed readers, this is another way to achieve the same result (i do that with miniflux)
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  Yes, it is using RSS feeds per channel and also there are multiple fallbacks built. NoSuggest is a curated experience just like YouTube but without algorithm recommendations.
boltguo 4mo ago
For the sync issue without an account, a simple JSON export/import, or generating a Base64 string as a custom URL parameter would work perfectly. Seamless cross-device sync while keeping the zero-data-collection promise.
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  That's really good idea which I am getting multiple times from Show HN post. Never thought about it before. Would definitely do it next. Thank you very much!
aboardRat4 4mo ago
Great idea, but requires learning a new UI, doesn't fetch "streams"... In any case, it's great to see the family of FBPurity and Antigram being joined by a new tool. >I would love genuine feedback. Thank you very much for your attention on this matter Maybe a harsh thing to say, but I'd say that the approach is wrong. I think that the approach by FBPurity and Antigram is more practical. Just hook into the website itself, hide the dopamine-production inducing elements, such as "shorts", hide recommendations, but keep the UI the same.
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  Fair critique. The browser extension approach works well on desktop but does not work on mobile at all, which is exactly where the algorithm does the most damage. That's the gap NoSuggest is filling.
  - aboardRat4 4mo ago
    I'm using both of the extensions on Android Firefox. Both work, even though they require turning on "desktop mode to be full-featured (even though even on mobile versions some features wotk).
orrito 4mo ago
What are the biggest differences between this and going into your google settings to disable history/recommendations? I personally feel like that works well, on all platforms and removes shorts as well.
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  Yeah, I tried that too. But when I watch a video of the channel I like, there will be unending side cards of videos suggesting what to watch next. There are so many ways YouTube tries to keep you on their platform. And one more benefit that NoSuggest will not have as much ads as YouTube. Although I am using YouTube official player, meaning they could serve ads but definitely would be far less than what you see in YouTube app.
- deleted 4mo ago
  [deleted]
nzxt210 4mo ago
You can just disable history in YT. It disables all the recommendations. Home and Shorts tabs are fully empty, so only Subscriptions tab is available.
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  Yeah, I tried that too. But when I watch a video of the channel I like, there will be unending side cards of videos suggesting what to watch next. There are so many ways YouTube tries to keep you on their platform. And one more benefit that NoSuggest will not have as much ads as YouTube. Although I am using YouTube official player, meaning they could serve ads but definitely would be far less than what you see in YouTube app.
azangru 4mo ago
> Source available in Github through NoSuggest website. Where? I couldn't find any link to the source on the website.
- skotobaza 4mo ago
  I see it when I go to "Settings" and look at the footer (next to terms of service and all that).
  - azangru 4mo ago
    Thanks! Found it.
anonzzzies 4mo ago
I find youtube, but also netflix, prime, Spotify etc some of the weirdest things in tech; for me they all are complete shite. How is it possible? I vote up and down stuff; how can I vote down sappy drama and then get recommended the same drama the next refresh? How can it recommend movies, shows, clips I JUST watched? How does any of this not lead to frustration? I was listening to a generated playlist at a small dinner party and it put in music I literally down voted and hate. There are 1000s of people working at these companies ; I don't know why more than 1 dev and Claude code are working at netflix in IT as it's just complete garbage. Maybe someone can explain it here.
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  It is same exact feeling I have with YouTube. Although I used YouTube more than any other streaming platforms. That frustration is exactly what NoSuggest is trying to fix, at least for YouTube. No algorithm, no recommendations, no suggestions. Just the channels you chose. Give it a try.
- goyozi 4mo ago
  The answer is quite simple, even if not satisfying: - recommendations take time to re-calculate - downvotes are not a global exclusion filter There are a lot of approaches to recommendations, and I imagine the biggest players having a mix of them, so that _something_ sticks. Some of them might rely on data / features / models which are recalculated "once every X", so they don't react immediately to your input. There's also patterns which are normal to some people but seem insane to others: "oh, I've liked this show so much I watched it 3 times!".
pixel_popping 4mo ago
I feel this would have more success if you use 1:1 (or very close) the actual Youtube template. Many have attempted "clones" and so-on, never really understood why it doesn't look the SAME, that way there is no switching curve.
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  [dead]
artemonster 4mo ago
Is there alternative discovery algo? I dont want to be suggested same things, I want to see something new
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  No, the name itself is NoSuggest. Not suggesting anything. Just a platform to watch Youtube videos of your choice and nothing else. Please try it out and provide feedback. Thank you.
watermelonpuppy 4mo ago
If you would like to keep the native youtube.com experience, in addition to disabling the watch history, which gets rid of the first screen recommendations, you can also use a filter list such as https://github.com/DandelionSprout/adfilt/blob/master/YouTubeEvenMorePureVideoExperience.txt https://github.com/DandelionSprout/adfilt/blob/master/YouTub.... I use it with AdGuard and it not only blocks the side cards of video recommendations on what to watch next, it also blocks comments which can be an endless pit of doomscrolling on its own. This way if you want to watch a video the only way to do so its to search for it, otherwise you won't ever get anything else recommended to you.
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  Interesting. But it won't work with mobiles i believe. Which is were real doom scrolling would happen. NoSuggest installs just like a native app and do the job of YouTube app without algorithms.
  - watermelonpuppy 4mo ago
    Personally I dont use the YouTube (iOS) app for this reason. The browser version is quite decent, allows for more control just as using an adblocker and removing recommendations as mentioned.
FionaZhu 4mo ago
I like the idea of making YouTube feel intentional again instead of turning every video into the start of another rabbit hole. One thing I’d love to see is a way to separate “learning” channels from “background entertainment” channels, since I use YouTube very differently depending on the mood.
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  That's a nice idea for future enhancement. But for now, if in case you use different devices for different purpose like laptop for learning and mobile for background entertainment then both devices can have their own list of channels completely separate. I highly appreciate you using the app. Please provide your feedback. Thank you.
gnoll_of_gozag 4mo ago
i just block the sidebar with an ublock filter
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  That's great idea. Yes, that solves the YouTube in browser problem. I tried to solve here the remaining problem which is doom scrolling in mobile.
pricewatcherco 4mo ago
some channels dont post videos that often, so the last 5 can mean the oldest is few months ago. maybe add a time filter ? like show newest from 24h ago, from latest week, latest month ?
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  Latest 5 videos of the channel. If the creator has only 3 videos posted many years ago, then NoSuggest will bring up those 3 videos only. Purely up to content creators.
evomassiny 4mo ago
In the same vein, there is the "tournesol"[0] browser extension, which plugs its own recommandation algorithm into YouTube, to promote educational videos [0]: https://tournesol.app/ https://tournesol.app/
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  Interesting, haven't seen that one. NoSuggest takes the opposite approach though, no algorithm at all rather than a better one.
tancop 4mo ago
all these projects and im thinking about making the opposite, alternate feeds for bluesky designed to make it as addictive as legacy social media. imo thats the only way we can get everyone to switch.
janpmz 4mo ago
You know what would be cool, a "different suggest" that acts like different algorithm.
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  Interesting idea but the whole philosophy here is no algorithm at all, not a better one.
roshanrp 4mo ago
The youtube algorithm is such a trap and this is amazing. exactly what i needed.
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  Thank you. Glad that you like it. Please use the app and provide feedback.
noir_lord 4mo ago
I just use https://unhook.app/ https://unhook.app/ silence the noise.
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  NoSuggest more focused for mobile users where real doom scrolling happens. Unhook don't work in mobiles. There are some alternative solutions which require high technical knowledge but it won't help people who are not technical but still want to get out of doom scrolling, wasting time in YouTube and still stay connected with their favorite educational content or news content creators.
dmzxnico 4mo ago
Cool idea. Is this allowed from T&C of YouTube? Is it also removing ads / autoplay?
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  NoSuggest is using official YouTube iFrame player. No explicitly removing ads or views. No downloading or hosting any videos in NoSuggest. All views and ads revenue if YouTube serve any ads, will go straight to YouTube. Although YouTube serve way fewer ads in iFrame player. Totally upto YouTube.

60 points by VJ-2-108 4mo ago

deleted 4mo ago

[deleted]

doorpheus 4mo ago

This is fantastic, I've been using the DF youtube browser extension for a while but will definitely start using this. It's great there's no accounts or sign-up needed.

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
Thank you! Yes, no account or sign-up to reduce any friction. Please provide feedback when you use it.

alarsama 4mo ago

This is exactly what I have been looking for. It's way too easy to get lost in the auto-suggested videos and shorts on YouTube. It was also always a hassle keeping up a local Invidious instance up and running in my homelab. Thank you so much for creating this! I'll try it out for a few days and provide feedback.

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
Glad to know you liked it. Thank you! Yes, please keep using it and provide feedback after using for few days.
- alarsama 4mo ago
  Some things I noticed right off the bat: - I'd recommend adding a way to add multiple channels at once. The current workflow works great for adding a single channel, but it was tedious to add more than one channel. I imagine most people using this service will add many channels at the beginning. - I'd like to be able to keep the same channel selections on multiple devices. Accounts and/or sync would probably be a lot of overhead to implement. Maybe some kind of unique link that contains a list of channels, like how PCPartPicker creates unique links for each build? - Someone else mentioned this, and I'd like to +1 it - clicking the channel in the Channels section does nothing, when I'd expect it to show the channel's videos. Other than that, I love it! Great work!
  - VJ-2-108 4mo ago
    [flagged]

atema 4mo ago

I like watching streams from a few authors, but I'm not interested in their videos. Your website now shows only videos. Could you also add streams? And it would also be useful to have a setting for hiding streams and videos - for people like me. Another point: it would make sense to be able to access all videos from a channel rather than the last five videos. And a small thing: the channels in the Channels tab are not clickable - seems counterintuitive.

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
Thank you for the detailed feedback. Really useful. On streams: I never thought about it as an use-case. Thank you for bring it up. Will look into it. Showing 5 videos/channel is intentional. Idea is to only surface latest videos and not re-create a scroll feed like Youtube. But if I get more feedback from users that it is too restrictive then I can easily make it to recent 10 or 15 videos. What do you feel as an appropriate number of recent videos per channel is? Good catch on the channels tab. Currently it just manages your list. Tapping a channel to jump to their feed section is a neat idea though, will look into adding it.
- atema 4mo ago
  You're welcome! Thanks for considering changes based on my suggestions. I think 5 videos per channel is an appropriate limit. I understand what you want to achieve with this. But suppose I want to watch an older video from the same channel. A simple 'Expand' button would do the trick. Otherwise I'd have to go to YouTube which I wanted to avoid in the first place. And I think you don't have to stick to a certain number of videos as the only type of limit. How about showing as many videos as would fit within the width of the window?
  - VJ-2-108 4mo ago
    In previous versions, I had a direct YouTube channel link in the feed. So if user wants to see more than 5 videos of that channel then clicking on the link would take them directly to YouTube channel where they can find all the videos. But I got many users feedback that "making easy access to YouTube would be counter-intuitive and if they want to find a particular video obviously they know the search keywords and they can search for it in search tab." So scrolling videos or YouTube direct link was removed. The Expand idea is interesting though, will think about it. Thank you.

seirim 4mo ago

hi, my feedback is that I would like to be able to create an account, because I have my browser (Firefox) set to always clear all cookies and history on shutdown, so when I re-open this later I assume all my added channels would be lost, and would need to start from scratch. If it wasn't for that, I think it's great and would use it.

NewJazz 4mo ago
Maybe wrap it in tauri?
- VJ-2-108 4mo ago
  Interesting idea but that moves it away from being a zero install web app which is core to what NoSuggest is. The PWA angle is the whole point, especially for mobile.
VJ-2-108 4mo ago
Hey Seirim, totally valid concern. The app uses localStorage so yes, clearing cookies/history on shutdown would wipe your channels. Accounts are off the table for now since the whole point is zero sign-in friction and zero data collection. But if it helps, you can download the PWA app to your mobile and use it. Thank you very much! Hoping NoSuggest would be useful to you in any ways.
- seirim 4mo ago
  Ok, there must be a way, though, just encrypt the personal channels chose with the user's password so you don't know what they have chosen, and don't track anything? And I think most people aren't too worried about it being known what their favorite 10 channels are, for example, yeah? And if you don't track what they actually watch at all, that info isn't very interesting.
  - VJ-2-108 4mo ago
    That is a fair point and I hear you. The encrypted account idea is interesting. How about an export/import feature where you can save your channel list as a file and reload it anytime, or even a shareable link that encodes your channels in the URL like PCPartPicker does with builds. It would be faster than login. And no account creation and no tracking as promised. Would that solve your problem?

frankieg33 4mo ago

I made a podcast feed from YT with podsync so that I can take videos on the go. I use the playlist feature to pull them down. this feels like a great way for me to pull out only select videos. a direct way to put vids on a feed would be great, but understand if that doesnt make any sense. thanks for putting it together. an option for no thumbnails, or just the first screen instead ot thumbnails + lower case titles also helps lower the lizard brain pull even further.

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
[dead]

mrtesthah 4mo ago

This is desperately needed. I currently use https://freetubeapp.io/ https://freetubeapp.io/ but this seems to have more flexible deployment options.

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
FreeTube is great but it is a desktop app you have to install. NoSuggest works on any device straight from the browser, especially mobile where nothing else really works. Give it a go and let me know what you think please. Looking forward for your valuable feedback.

zuzululu 4mo ago

This is a welcome output, it is quite tiring to be stuck on Youtube for hours. Anything that can: - break the algorithm - help reduce time on there - discover organically Would have a huge product market fit. We are all zonked from the algorithm saturation. One thing I recently started doing is use the before: search filter ex) playthroughs before: 2010 I think its really neat that we've had Youtube for such a long time its become sort of a Archive.org on its own I especially take great joy in watching people with low subscriber count or Youtube videos from before 2015 I feel like that was the inflection point where you just had a lot of freedom to speak your mind without the permanently online crowd getting offended by everything.

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
Yes, I 100% agree with you. Thank you for bringing it up. And date filter: that is a fun way to use YouTube. The search tab in NoSuggest lets you search for specific videos without recommendations creeping in around them, so you can do that kind of intentional digging. Date filtering isn't there though. And the feed only shows the latest 5 videos per channel so it won't surface older content.

fret423 4mo ago

Could this work on a TV YouTube app? LG / Samsung.

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
Sorry, it won't work like a YouTube app in TV. But if you can install a browser to your smart TV and access the URL then it will work just like in laptop.

rmnclmnt 4mo ago

Is this using the youtube per-channel RSS feeds? For people already using RSS feed readers, this is another way to achieve the same result (i do that with miniflux)

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
Yes, it is using RSS feeds per channel and also there are multiple fallbacks built. NoSuggest is a curated experience just like YouTube but without algorithm recommendations.

boltguo 4mo ago

For the sync issue without an account, a simple JSON export/import, or generating a Base64 string as a custom URL parameter would work perfectly. Seamless cross-device sync while keeping the zero-data-collection promise.

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
That's really good idea which I am getting multiple times from Show HN post. Never thought about it before. Would definitely do it next. Thank you very much!

aboardRat4 4mo ago

Great idea, but requires learning a new UI, doesn't fetch "streams"... In any case, it's great to see the family of FBPurity and Antigram being joined by a new tool. >I would love genuine feedback. Thank you very much for your attention on this matter Maybe a harsh thing to say, but I'd say that the approach is wrong. I think that the approach by FBPurity and Antigram is more practical. Just hook into the website itself, hide the dopamine-production inducing elements, such as "shorts", hide recommendations, but keep the UI the same.

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
Fair critique. The browser extension approach works well on desktop but does not work on mobile at all, which is exactly where the algorithm does the most damage. That's the gap NoSuggest is filling.
- aboardRat4 4mo ago
  I'm using both of the extensions on Android Firefox. Both work, even though they require turning on "desktop mode to be full-featured (even though even on mobile versions some features wotk).

orrito 4mo ago

What are the biggest differences between this and going into your google settings to disable history/recommendations? I personally feel like that works well, on all platforms and removes shorts as well.

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
Yeah, I tried that too. But when I watch a video of the channel I like, there will be unending side cards of videos suggesting what to watch next. There are so many ways YouTube tries to keep you on their platform. And one more benefit that NoSuggest will not have as much ads as YouTube. Although I am using YouTube official player, meaning they could serve ads but definitely would be far less than what you see in YouTube app.
deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]

nzxt210 4mo ago

You can just disable history in YT. It disables all the recommendations. Home and Shorts tabs are fully empty, so only Subscriptions tab is available.

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
Yeah, I tried that too. But when I watch a video of the channel I like, there will be unending side cards of videos suggesting what to watch next. There are so many ways YouTube tries to keep you on their platform. And one more benefit that NoSuggest will not have as much ads as YouTube. Although I am using YouTube official player, meaning they could serve ads but definitely would be far less than what you see in YouTube app.

azangru 4mo ago

> Source available in Github through NoSuggest website. Where? I couldn't find any link to the source on the website.

skotobaza 4mo ago
I see it when I go to "Settings" and look at the footer (next to terms of service and all that).
- azangru 4mo ago
  Thanks! Found it.

anonzzzies 4mo ago

I find youtube, but also netflix, prime, Spotify etc some of the weirdest things in tech; for me they all are complete shite. How is it possible? I vote up and down stuff; how can I vote down sappy drama and then get recommended the same drama the next refresh? How can it recommend movies, shows, clips I JUST watched? How does any of this not lead to frustration? I was listening to a generated playlist at a small dinner party and it put in music I literally down voted and hate. There are 1000s of people working at these companies ; I don't know why more than 1 dev and Claude code are working at netflix in IT as it's just complete garbage. Maybe someone can explain it here.

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
It is same exact feeling I have with YouTube. Although I used YouTube more than any other streaming platforms. That frustration is exactly what NoSuggest is trying to fix, at least for YouTube. No algorithm, no recommendations, no suggestions. Just the channels you chose. Give it a try.
goyozi 4mo ago
The answer is quite simple, even if not satisfying: - recommendations take time to re-calculate - downvotes are not a global exclusion filter There are a lot of approaches to recommendations, and I imagine the biggest players having a mix of them, so that _something_ sticks. Some of them might rely on data / features / models which are recalculated "once every X", so they don't react immediately to your input. There's also patterns which are normal to some people but seem insane to others: "oh, I've liked this show so much I watched it 3 times!".

pixel_popping 4mo ago

I feel this would have more success if you use 1:1 (or very close) the actual Youtube template. Many have attempted "clones" and so-on, never really understood why it doesn't look the SAME, that way there is no switching curve.

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
[dead]

artemonster 4mo ago

Is there alternative discovery algo? I dont want to be suggested same things, I want to see something new

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
No, the name itself is NoSuggest. Not suggesting anything. Just a platform to watch Youtube videos of your choice and nothing else. Please try it out and provide feedback. Thank you.

watermelonpuppy 4mo ago

If you would like to keep the native youtube.com experience, in addition to disabling the watch history, which gets rid of the first screen recommendations, you can also use a filter list such as https://github.com/DandelionSprout/adfilt/blob/master/YouTubeEvenMorePureVideoExperience.txt https://github.com/DandelionSprout/adfilt/blob/master/YouTub.... I use it with AdGuard and it not only blocks the side cards of video recommendations on what to watch next, it also blocks comments which can be an endless pit of doomscrolling on its own. This way if you want to watch a video the only way to do so its to search for it, otherwise you won't ever get anything else recommended to you.

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
Interesting. But it won't work with mobiles i believe. Which is were real doom scrolling would happen. NoSuggest installs just like a native app and do the job of YouTube app without algorithms.
- watermelonpuppy 4mo ago
  Personally I dont use the YouTube (iOS) app for this reason. The browser version is quite decent, allows for more control just as using an adblocker and removing recommendations as mentioned.

FionaZhu 4mo ago

I like the idea of making YouTube feel intentional again instead of turning every video into the start of another rabbit hole. One thing I’d love to see is a way to separate “learning” channels from “background entertainment” channels, since I use YouTube very differently depending on the mood.

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
That's a nice idea for future enhancement. But for now, if in case you use different devices for different purpose like laptop for learning and mobile for background entertainment then both devices can have their own list of channels completely separate. I highly appreciate you using the app. Please provide your feedback. Thank you.

gnoll_of_gozag 4mo ago

i just block the sidebar with an ublock filter

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
That's great idea. Yes, that solves the YouTube in browser problem. I tried to solve here the remaining problem which is doom scrolling in mobile.

pricewatcherco 4mo ago

some channels dont post videos that often, so the last 5 can mean the oldest is few months ago. maybe add a time filter ? like show newest from 24h ago, from latest week, latest month ?

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
Latest 5 videos of the channel. If the creator has only 3 videos posted many years ago, then NoSuggest will bring up those 3 videos only. Purely up to content creators.

evomassiny 4mo ago

In the same vein, there is the "tournesol"[0] browser extension, which plugs its own recommandation algorithm into YouTube, to promote educational videos [0]: https://tournesol.app/ https://tournesol.app/

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
Interesting, haven't seen that one. NoSuggest takes the opposite approach though, no algorithm at all rather than a better one.

tancop 4mo ago

all these projects and im thinking about making the opposite, alternate feeds for bluesky designed to make it as addictive as legacy social media. imo thats the only way we can get everyone to switch.

janpmz 4mo ago

You know what would be cool, a "different suggest" that acts like different algorithm.

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
Interesting idea but the whole philosophy here is no algorithm at all, not a better one.

roshanrp 4mo ago

The youtube algorithm is such a trap and this is amazing. exactly what i needed.

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
Thank you. Glad that you like it. Please use the app and provide feedback.

noir_lord 4mo ago

I just use https://unhook.app/ https://unhook.app/ silence the noise.

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
NoSuggest more focused for mobile users where real doom scrolling happens. Unhook don't work in mobiles. There are some alternative solutions which require high technical knowledge but it won't help people who are not technical but still want to get out of doom scrolling, wasting time in YouTube and still stay connected with their favorite educational content or news content creators.

dmzxnico 4mo ago

Cool idea. Is this allowed from T&C of YouTube? Is it also removing ads / autoplay?

VJ-2-108 4mo ago
NoSuggest is using official YouTube iFrame player. No explicitly removing ads or views. No downloading or hosting any videos in NoSuggest. All views and ads revenue if YouTube serve any ads, will go straight to YouTube. Although YouTube serve way fewer ads in iFrame player. Totally upto YouTube.