Windows Phone user-agent allows you to block YouTube ads as a temporary workaround
In the wake of YouTube's recent crackdown on ad blockers, a significant number of users have found themselves disgruntled by the platform's move. However, a potential workaround has been identified by @Enderman, who recently posted on X (formerly Twitter) about the possibility of disabling YouTube ads by switching the user agent of your web browser to Windows Phone.
This adjustment can be accomplished with relative ease using a browser extension like User-Agent Switcher and Manager or similar alternatives. The user agent is an HTTP header intended to identify the device, browser version, and operating system responsible for making a specific HTTP request. Presently, switching to the Windows Phone user agent seems to effectively eliminate the YouTube pop-up, thereby reinstating an ad-free viewing experience.
In addition to this, some users have reported that the popular ad-blocking software, uBlock Origin, continues to function effectively for blocking ads on YouTube.
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Related news
External links
- So, ad blockers violate YouTube ToS? Good, because user agent spoofers don't.X (formerly Twitter)
- Windows Phone gets some revenge on YouTube from beyond the graveWindows Central
- Windows Phone may allow you to get around the YouTube ad blocker via Chrome (sort of)Neowin
- The Windows Phone returns from grave as an anti-ad-blocker blocker on YouTubeTechSpot
- Windows Phone gets revenge on YouTube from the grave by helping users bypass its ad-blocker-blockerReddit
Comments
Firefox mobile has an extension for ad blocking.
Fire OS is no longer operating is it? Didn't they (along with Blackberry OS) get the shaft from Android and iOS from those two telling big app developers not to work with them so those two OS's can control the smartphone market?
Youtube isn't a must in life guys, it just isn't. Also, aren't Windows Phones going the way of Blackberry OS phones?
Companies being as greedy as humanly possible isn't a must either.....
I don't have a Youtube account (or any kind of Google account for that matter) I simply go on Freetube to get a video of something I need a video of, nothing to do with Youtube or Google, that is the person who uploaded that video that is drawing me in. I don't use a smartphone nor do I plan to ever do so. I do not support Google, Meta, Twitter or any of these modern day digital companies that have weaved themselves off the online world and into everybodies day to day lives. I miss the old days when the internet and social media (Myspace, Bebo, early Facebook) wasn't something you spent more than an hour a day on, both used to be positive tools to use but like I said these companies want to control individuals offline day to day lives these days. Of course these companies and those dumb people with their heads buried in a "phone" (its not a phone anymore) all day will blame the "haters" for the current state of things but its not the case at all.
Another reason to use uBlock Origin, the best add-on out there.
100% agreed! But what about mobile?
Unless you have an iPhone, there is no reason to not use
ReVanced to block ads. Other alternatives exists
My question is why do you want to watch videos on a 5-6 inch screen?