Does AdGuard or other ad blocker for Safari block YouTube ads these days?

[VitoBotta]

I am trying to cut on subscriptions costs so I'd like to cancel my YouTube Premium sub for a while. Are there any ad blockers that reliably block ads on YT at the moment? I am currently using Safari (not sure if I will stick to it yet), so something that works with Safari is best. At the moment I am using the AdGuard extension.

Thanks!

 

[GimmeDatApple]

No it does not. I use Vinegar, a Safari extension. Works on macOS, iOS and iPadOS. Best $2 I've spent.

‎Vinegar - Tube Cleaner

‎Vinegar is a Safari extension that replaces the YouTube player with a minimal HTML video tag. It removes ads, restores picture-in-picture, and keeps videos playing in the background. Note: The "can read information from webpages" text in the permission section is just unfortunate wording...

apps.apple.com

 

[mblm85]

This is an ongoing quiet tit-for-tat war between YourTube and the ad blocker devs.

1Blocker currently does but every so often the ads get through until 1Blocker update their filters again.

Probably similar for the others.

 

[VitoBotta]

No it does not. I use Vinegar, a Safari extension. Works on macOS, iOS and iPadOS. Best $2 I've spent.

‎Vinegar - Tube Cleaner

‎Vinegar is a Safari extension that replaces the YouTube player with a minimal HTML video tag. It removes ads, restores picture-in-picture, and keeps videos playing in the background. Note: The "can read information from webpages" text in the permission section is just unfortunate wording...

apps.apple.com

Nice! I am taking a note for when the subscription expires (I just cancelled) so I can try. Thanks!

This is an ongoing quiet tit-for-tat war between YourTube and the ad blocker devs.

1Blocker currently does but every so often the ads get through until 1Blocker update their filters again.

Probably similar for the others.

I imagined that. I've had the subscription to YT Premium for a while so I am not up to date on this "war" but I have read that Google is also changing something to integrate ads in the content and make it impossible for ad blockers to block those ads. That would be sad

 

[BotchQue]

No it does not. I use Vinegar, a Safari extension. Works on macOS, iOS and iPadOS. Best $2 I've spent.

‎Vinegar - Tube Cleaner

‎Vinegar is a Safari extension that replaces the YouTube player with a minimal HTML video tag. It removes ads, restores picture-in-picture, and keeps videos playing in the background. Note: The "can read information from webpages" text in the permission section is just unfortunate wording...

apps.apple.com

Hmm. I had been using Vinegar but it no longer works for me (latest OS, Safari).
I switched to SwizzTube (App Store) and it works but is a bit kludgy.

 

[BeatCrazy]

No it does not. I use Vinegar, a Safari extension. Works on macOS, iOS and iPadOS. Best $2 I've spent.

‎Vinegar - Tube Cleaner

‎Vinegar is a Safari extension that replaces the YouTube player with a minimal HTML video tag. It removes ads, restores picture-in-picture, and keeps videos playing in the background. Note: The "can read information from webpages" text in the permission section is just unfortunate wording...

apps.apple.com

Vinegar hasn't worked on YouTube for me in some time.

However the paid Adguard works 100% of the time on both desktop and mobile Safari. I think I paid ~$15 about 6 months ago for a lifetime sub, and even if it stops working tomorrow, I feel like I've gotten my money's worth.

 

[VitoBotta]

Vinegar hasn't worked on YouTube for me in some time.

However the paid Adguard works 100% of the time on both desktop and mobile Safari. I think I paid ~$15 about 6 months ago for a lifetime sub, and even if it stops working tomorrow, I feel like I've gotten my money's worth.

where can I find AdGuard at that kind of price?

 

[BeatCrazy]

where can I find AdGuard at that kind of price?

A place like Stack Social. I have no affiliation with either Stack Social or Adguard.

AdGuard Family Plan Lifetime Deal | StackSocial

<p>Get rid of annoying ads and protect your device from malware with this AdGuard Family Plan lifetime deal, which is available for a limited time only.</p>

www.stacksocial.com

 

[VitoBotta]

A place like Stack Social. I have no affiliation with either Stack Social or Adguard.

AdGuard Family Plan Lifetime Deal | StackSocial

<p>Get rid of annoying ads and protect your device from malware with this AdGuard Family Plan lifetime deal, which is available for a limited time only.</p>

www.stacksocial.com

Thanks! That looks like an awesome site!

 

[GimmeDatApple]

Hmm. I had been using Vinegar but it no longer works for me (latest OS, Safari).
I switched to SwizzTube (App Store) and it works but is a bit kludgy.

Vinegar hasn't worked on YouTube for me in some time.

However the paid Adguard works 100% of the time on both desktop and mobile Safari. I think I paid ~$15 about 6 months ago for a lifetime sub, and even if it stops working tomorrow, I feel like I've gotten my money's worth.

Strange to hear. It’s working great for me on iPadOS 17.5.1 and on my desktop iMac running Safari 17.5. Only issue I have is the html player not always loading, but a refresh of the page fixes that.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Only issue I have is the html player not always loading, but a refresh of the page fixes that.

By my definition, that was/is "not working". Refresh didn't always fix.

 

[boss.king]

No it does not. I use Vinegar, a Safari extension. Works on macOS, iOS and iPadOS. Best $2 I've spent.

‎Vinegar - Tube Cleaner

‎Vinegar is a Safari extension that replaces the YouTube player with a minimal HTML video tag. It removes ads, restores picture-in-picture, and keeps videos playing in the background. Note: The "can read information from webpages" text in the permission section is just unfortunate wording...

apps.apple.com

Yes it does. I use AdGuard and never see ads on mobile or desktop Safari.

Also, @OP, I can confirm the StackSocial thing is legit, I've used it for AdGuard and a few other things — there are often good deals to be found there. I got a lifetime family bundle (~10 licences) for way cheaper than going directly through AdGuard and put it on every device in my house.

 

[VitoBotta]

Yes it does. I use AdGuard and never see ads on mobile or desktop Safari.

Also, @OP, I can confirm the StackSocial thing is legit, I've used it for AdGuard and a few other things — there are often good deals to be found there. I got a lifetime family bundle ~10 licences for way cheaper than going directly through AdGuard and put it on every device in my house.

Awesome. I was just searching if it's safe to buy from there. What is the practical difference between the AdGuard app and just using the extension? Is the app more effective than the extension? I also use NextDNS. Can I get rid of that if I use AdGuard?

 

[Iwavvns]

I am trying to cut on subscriptions costs so I'd like to cancel my YouTube Premium sub for a while. Are there any ad blockers that reliably block ads on YT at the moment? I am currently using Safari (not sure if I will stick to it yet), so something that works with Safari is best. At the moment I am using the AdGuard extension.

Thanks!

I have been using AdGuard (free version) in Safari (extension) on iPhone and iPad for over a year and have not seen any ads on YouTube. Another effective combination is the uBlock Origin plugin in the Firefox browser.

 

[VitoBotta]

I have been using AdGuard on iPhone and iPad for over a year and have not seen any ads on YouTube.

Perfect. I am sold. Thanks!

 

[boss.king]

Awesome. I was just searching if it's safe to buy from there. What is the practical difference between the AdGuard app and just using the extension? Is the app more effective than the extension? I also use NextDNS. Can I get rid of that if I use AdGuard?

I've never used NextDNS so I can't help you there.

I believe you can do DNS filtering through the app but not the browser extenson, but it's been a while since I set it up so I may be wrong. I use both and never see ads, so I just leave them both to do their thing.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

No it does not. I use Vinegar, a Safari extension. Works on macOS, iOS and iPadOS. Best $2 I've spent.

‎Vinegar - Tube Cleaner

‎Vinegar is a Safari extension that replaces the YouTube player with a minimal HTML video tag. It removes ads, restores picture-in-picture, and keeps videos playing in the background. Note: The "can read information from webpages" text in the permission section is just unfortunate wording...

apps.apple.com

Just purchased. Works great!

 

[VitoBotta]

nice! I just purchased AdGuard and tested with a new gmail account. I don't see any ads on YouTube! thanks a lot @BeatCrazy

 

[Iwavvns]

nice! I just purchased AdGuard and tested with a new gmail account. I don't see any ads on YouTube! thanks a lot @BeatCrazy

Posting this just in case: you might run into a video on YouTube that is blank. What I’ve seen is that blank video is a placeholder that stays there while the advertisement runs - you won’t see the advertisement,just a blank video. When the advertisements are over, the video will auto-play. Or you can avoid the wait and refresh the page in the browser and watch the video without the ads.

 

[GimmeDatApple]

Yes it does. I use AdGuard and never see ads on mobile or desktop Safari.

Also, @OP, I can confirm the StackSocial thing is legit, I've used it for AdGuard and a few other things — there are often good deals to be found there. I got a lifetime family bundle (~10 licences) for way cheaper than going directly through AdGuard and put it on every device in my house.

I have all seven AdGuard extensions enabled in desktop Safari and none of them block YouTube ads.

 

[VitoBotta]

Posting this just in case: you might run into a video on YouTube that is blank. What I’ve seen is that blank video is a placeholder that stays there while the advertisement runs - you won’t see the advertisement,just a blank video. When the advertisements are over, the video will auto-play. Or you can avoid the wait and refresh the page in the browser and watch the video without the ads.

Gotcha, will keep it in mind, thanks!

 

[boss.king]

I have all seven AdGuard extensions enabled in desktop Safari and none of them block YouTube ads.

I'm not sure what seven extensions you're talking about. It might be different for me because I'm running the Safari extension and the desktop app. All I know it I never see ads on Youtube (mobile and desktop) while AdGuard is running. If I turn AdGuard off, I see lots of Youtube ads.

On mobile I use DNS filtering so it gets rid of ads in most apps (although even this doesn't help with the iOS Youtube app, so I use Youtube in Safari on mobile).

 

[gilby101]

What is the practical difference between the AdGuard app and just using the extension?

Practical differences: a) AdGuard for Mac is system wide - so it works with other browsers, email, newsfeeds, etc., b) can do a deeper inspection (and modification) of your web requests and responses, and c) do DNS blocking.

How it works difference: AdGuard for Safari is "just" a Safari extension using Apple's adblocker framework. AdGuard for Mac is a system extension that is able to inspect/modify all network traffic.

Management differences: AdGuard for Safari is easy - just enable and choose which filters. AdGuard for Mac is much more complex.

Trust: Because AdGuard for Mac can do more, you need to have greater trust that there is nothing bad going on. As a home user, I am happy with that. But, I would be careful to get sign off if I was using it within a large organisation.

I also use NextDNS

AdGuard for Mac can intercept DNS requests and apply blocklists. Arguably you don't next NextDNS as well. I run AdGuard Home on a Pi as my DNS resolver, and it still blocks a few requests.

 

[GimmeDatApple]

I'm not sure what seven extensions you're talking about. It might be different for me because I'm running the Safari extension and the desktop app. All I know it I never see ads on Youtube (mobile and desktop) while AdGuard is running. If I turn AdGuard off, I see lots of Youtube ads.

On mobile I use DNS filtering so it gets rid of ads in most apps (although even this doesn't help with the iOS Youtube app, so I use Youtube in Safari on mobile).

Op said they’re using the AdGuard Safari extension which is not blocking youtube ads for them. As I stated in my initial reply hours ago, no that does not block YouTube ads. The desktop app is not the same thing and not what we were talking about.

These are the Safari extensions.

 

[boss.king]

Op said they’re using the AdGuard Safari extension which is not blocking youtube ads for them. As I stated in my initial reply hours ago, no that does not block YouTube ads. The desktop app is not the same thing and not what we were talking about.

These are the Safari extensions.

Those don’t appear to be present in the Safari extension when the desktop app is installed. I see those on mobile.

But also, the OP is discussing AdGuard and ad blockers in general, not just the AdGuard extension. If you’re choosing to limit your own conversation to the extension, that’s fine, but the fact is that one can block YouTube ads in Safari with AdGuard.