How to Disable Ads on the YouTube App - Various Ways

Sick and tired of being bombarded with annoying music, loud voices and stupid games that you’ll never play? Yes, YouTube ads such, here’s how to get rid of them.

Most people now use an ad blocker on their desktop and this does a glorious job at removing ads from YouTube. The problem is that things don’t work quite as simply on the YouTube app. Removing ads from here is going to take a little more tickery. Although there was (and possibly still is) a piece of code you can add into YouTube to remove ads, the likelihood of this being a sustainable way to stop ads on the app altogether is very slim.

There’s nothing more irritating when you’re listening to soothing music or watching a podcast than having dubstep or an overly-positive guitar tune start playing out of nowhere while someone starts babbling on about car insurance - even though you haven’t driven a car in four years. In any case, ads aren’t popular.

Don’t worry though, there are plenty of ways to get rid of YouTube ads and give yourself a pleasant viewing experience as a result. In this article we’ll go through some of the ways that you can stop them - some of them are free, while others aren’t - ultimately, it’s up to you and how much you value not being constantly bombarded with people trying to sell you things that you don’t want.

How to Remove Ads From the YouTube App

Traditional ad blockers don’t work on YouTube. For an ad blocker to work it essentially has to launch an attack on the page and replace the script with it’s own - when it comes to apps, this can get tricky. YouTube simply won’t launch if it’s being tampered with in any way. That being said, there are third party “YouTubes” that you can use that block ads.

These are risky. They come from unknown developers, and how much you trust them comes into how much you’d trust any potentially insecure app that hasn’t been checked out by paid professionals first. You can find apps like this - including OGYouTube - on various APK sites, and you’ll have to go into your device’s Settings then go to Security then allow Unknown Sources before you can install it. Once you’ve done this you can download the APK package and then run it on your device.

This method works, but apps from unknown sources are potentially unstable and could even be looking to collect data from you - for example, some of them will ask for totally unnecessary permissions from you. It’s important to consider this before using one of these services.

That being said, with OGYouTube, you can freely browse videos and not have to worry about being interrupted by ads. If you’re willing to compromise your own data, which some people are perfectly happy to do (you do it all the time on other apps anyway, especially game apps), then this is probably the easier of the free options.

The Other Free Method

This next method is a little misleading, seeing as it isn’t actually within the YouTube app itself. Then again, nor was the last method, but if you want to get rid of YouTube ads for free then you’ll have to work around the rock a little. This method doesn’t require untrustworthy software and it’s still free.

Simply open your web browser and go onto YouTube, if you have an ad blocker built into your web browser you won’t see any ads on the site. This is probably the best free method seeing as you’re using the actual YouTube site and performance isn’t really sacrificed - although some would prefer to stick within the app (beggars can’t be choosers though, right?).

Browsers like Brave Browser come with built in ad-blockers, which allow you to surf the web without having to see ugly ad banners

Once you’ve got YouTube open, click on Options within the browser and select Add to Homescreen. Now you’ll have a shortcut to the browser version of YouTube on your Android’s home page and you can easily access it whenever you want.

The Non-Free Method - YouTube Red

Youtube Red, a premium plan which allows you to enjoy ad-free video streaming

There is one last way - YouTube Red. With this method you’ll have to part with some of your hard earned cash, but the rewards are totally worth it when you consider all the cool features this subscription gives you. Not only can you view content on the YouTube app without being interrupted by ads (for the most part, at least), but you can also download any video offline (as opposed to only those without copyright) and you can get access to YouTube’s massive library of tens of millions of songs available to stream.

When you consider Spotify or Apple Music as good streaming services, you do have to take into account that they don’t have everything - YouTube on the other hand most certainly does. The ability to stream everything from YouTube Red and watch videos without ads and download them to watch offline makes this a pretty awesome choice. Of course, the downside is that you have to pay per month, but at $9.99 / month, this really isn’t too bad a deal (especially if you’re also using it as a replacement for your current video / music streaming service.

Wrapping Up

So, if you’re looking for a way to get less ads in your life then try one of these three methods - the most effective, in my own opinion, is YouTube Red. If you’re not willing to shell out the $9.99 / month to watch YouTube videos, then it’s best to go for the browser version of the site on your ad blocking web browser (such as Brave, or Chrome with an ad blocking extension).

Only if you’re really not bothered by data gathering and possible malware should you try out something like OGYouTube. Third party apps like this are from unknown developers and they can contain all sorts of nasty surprises, such as spyware, adware (ironically) and even viruses that will attack your OS and render your phone useless.

Oh hey guys, did I forgot to tell you that there is another option to enjoy your favorite videos on Youtube without being frustrated by ads? Then it's to download those video and watch them offline on your phone. And as far as Youtube downloader is concerned, Snaptube is one of the best, arguably the best in my opinion.

I hope that by reading this article you have more of an idea about how to block ads from your life. Depending on what you’re watching on YouTube, it might be appropriate to consider whether these content creators are actually using YouTube as their primary job and income - if so, perhaps paying directly for the service ad free isn’t such a bad idea.

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