DeArrow - A Browser Extension that removes clickbait titles and thumbnails
DeArrow - A Browser Extension that removes clickbait titles and thumbnails
DeArrow is a browser extension for replacing titles and thumbnails on YouTube with community created accurate versions. No more clickbait.
The creators of SponsorBlock did it again, now we can crowdsource better titles and thumbnails as well. I just tried it with LinusTechTips who is a worst offender when it comes to clickbait and its really great.
Compare without DeArrow
and with the extension
Clickbait has this singular capacity to make one feel treated as a simple primate. Such a relieving comparison.
I've already noticed a couple videos where the corrected title made me more interested in the video than the clickbait title. Hope this extension takes off!
That’s how it is most of the time for me. I unsubbed from LTT because their clickbaity videos made it hard for me to see what I’m interested in. With this extension I might actually start watching their stuff again.
Holy shit! This is amazing! But how will I ever know what's REALLY IMPORTANT without ALL CAPS and a shitton of BANGS?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Don't forget the USELESS FUCKING ARROWS.
Unless it's pointing to a red circle.
The removal of the custom thumbnail is refreshing. No more wired reactions with an arrow pointing at something.
I'm going to give this a try. The sponsorblock people have great ideas!
This made me realize how much I hate the YouTube metagame
If I still used YT's main front-end, this would've been great.
SponsorBlock has been added to alternative frontends as well, so there is a good chance DeArrow will be ported.
That's what I'm hoping for!
What are you using? Freetube or something else?
I'm using an Invidious instance.
Feels like we're back on youtube in its early form, more organic. great idea i'm downloading it
Given that SponsorBlock is in Youtube ReVanced, do you think this will be included in ReVanced in the Future?
Your best bet is to ask developers yourself.
I tried it. It works well. But, I don't think I will use it, because I usually know YouTubers to avoid when it comes to clickbaiting. Looking at you, Scotty Kilmer. :)
After Mastodon and Lemmy I think need a federated youtube alternative now too. Yes, I know PeerTube exists, I just need it to get a nice boost in attention just like the other got.
Video hosting is way more resource intensive (and therefore expensive) than text and even the most image filled of Lemmy communities
I know. They use peer-to-peer, hence the name PeerTube, that means while you are watching a video, you also upload that video for others to see. Granted the concept falls flat with so little users as there is never another person watching the exact same video at the exact same point it time, but in theory it should scale up.
I think we could also have a standalone desktop application to watch and seed. In the browser you stop seeding as soon as you close the tab, but with the desktop application you could allow for further seeding. People who want to keep the platform alive could practically donate their upstream traffic. I would.
I wish people would use it more cause I like the concept a lot.
It seems no matter how many channels I block there's always more annoying eyesore thumbnails, so this is fantastic.
Awesome, it's like Clickbate Remover +.
If it works half as well as SponsorBlock I'll be a happy man.
I was genuinely surprised how well SponsorBlock works. I was assuming it to skip the sponsored sections only on accounts with millions of subscribers but in reality it almost never fails.
This extension is free, forever, for anyone who installs it during the beta. Yes, that means there will be a paywall for new users only in the future, but I promise that there will still be a way to for people to get free access. Of course the extension will always remain fully open source, with a publicly downloadable database, just like SponsorBlock.
I'm a bit confused what this means / will mean. A paywall but also still alternative free access?
Where are you quoting this from? I could not find any information about a paywall.
The plan for a alternative free access will most likely involve some form of waiting period or queue plus a sharing system. The code will also remain open source meaning there will always be a way :P
Honestly I'd probably be the type to be like "yeah I hate click bait!" Download this, and then stop watching videos entirely because they all look really boring
That's a win if you ask me.
When it removes the entirety of LTT from YouTube it will worth a try. There isn't much in this world that makes me seethe but that plonker is one.
I kinda like LTT materials, especially with Anthony but this extension is a godsend as I always hated their crappy thumbnails and titles.
It's Emily now if you did not know.
LTT makes good videos that are hidden behind obnoxious thumbnails. I hate how it's sometimes impossible to tell what a video is about because the title is so vague, but I understand why they do it. He has a company to run, he has employees to pay. He has said multiple times that he doesn't like it, but it would be a stupid to not do it because a bright colored thumbnail with a face going :O gets way more views than anything else. Clickbait haters are such a small minority that it's worth doing because 95% of people don't care
I get that people can find him annoying, but that plonker's video on dashcams actually helped me make a properly informed choice that literally saved me hundreds of dollars AND ensured I got something that actually had higher fidelity recording than many devices multiple times its price.
I'm glad he saved you money. I just wish he'd learn the basic grammar of production.
He's not the only bad YouTuber. 99.9% of them are clueless. Take the ubiquitous jump cut edit. They are everywhere. This is fine if you're a nouvelle vague French film director in the 1950s and 60s but have no place in a YT vid. It's unprofessional. None of these people seem to be able to get through a paragraph of text without fluffing their lines and consequently having to jump cut over the mistake. Watch an Andy Edwards music analysis vid and you'll see he can get through 45 minutes without a single edit. He knows his subject well and therefore is less prone to errors. If he does screw up he's smart enough to explain it and just let things flow without interruption.
What's with editing every breath and pause between sentences? Anyone that tried to talk like than in real life would die of oxygen deprivation before the end of their vid. It's unnatural and destroys the flow.
Then there's the unnecessary use of effects. It reminds me of the early days of desktop publishing when everyone and his dog suddenly became typographers. The horror, the horror. Just because they have 49 installed typefaces doesn't mean they have to use all of them in their poxy one page newsletters but that didn't stop them.
The basic principles of film and TV production were established over a century ago. If some spotty oik with a computer and a cam in his bedroom at his parents' house thinks they can do better then bring it on. I have yet to see any evidence of this happening. Putting some Star Wars toys on a shelving unit in the background and draping some LEDS over it is not visual innovation.
Let me summarise: Know your subject. Write a decent script. Learn it. Rehearse until you are perfect. Don't use SUPERFLUOUS capitalisation in the TITLES of your latest MASTERPIECE.
I've been in the business too long and amateurs irritate the f**k out of me. There's a lot more I could mention but life's too short.
Ok. grumpy old man rant over :)
There is also Clickbait Remover for Youtube. What are diferences?
This one will additionally use user submitted titles and thumbnails when available instead of just random ones.
I really like this, and I will probably use it, but I hate clickbate thumbnails with a passion and avoid them as much as I can.
Just out of curiosity, how do you determine what is and isn't clickbait?
I'd like to know this as well. The extension looks super interesting, but how does it determine what to replace the thumbnail and title with?
It uses user submitted titles and thumbnails if they are available. If not, it uses a random frame from the video as a thumbnail and applies some rules to the title (like no caps etc.).
For example a LTT video from yesterday:
Original title: 'Only YOU can fix GPU pricing... Here's how!'
Replaced title: 'How to find a good deal on a used GPU'
And about the thumbnails, just take a look on YouTube. In general I mean 😄
Like the existing "Clickbait Remover" addon, I believe it just removes formatting (caps lock, exclamation marks, other symbols and emojis) of the video title and swaps the custom thumbnail with either a thumbnail of the beginning, middle or end of the video (youtube provides thumbnails for various points in videos).
You can see in the video linked in the extension's website. It relies on people proposing and voting for different titles and thumbnails.
I don't see where I can submit titles on a video page?
For SponsorBlock there's a button in the video player toolbar.
The demo video shows a button on the video description title. But I don't see one (on a video that has no DeArrow data yet).
Are submissions not open yet?
/edit: Since my comment I've seen it on other video pages. Dunno if it was a technical issue, delay, account moderation, or video / channel specific or what.
This is indeed just a display bug of the button not showing up> who
Hope Newpipe Sponsorblock adds this ❗
Now THIS will be useful.
@e8d79 cool. haha. but still. i wanna see click bait titles, because then i know who is most likely a scammer 😀
It would be awesome if there was a option to have original title in brackets under new title
Just installed it and there is an option to have a "show original" button.
@crunchpaste cool. good to know
Where is the download?
I use Firexox and I found it in its addon repository, just search the name.
The headline is a link to the DeAreow website as well. There are links there to the various browser extensions.
If this ever gets ported for NewPipe and/or LibreTube it'll be sensational
The fact that it exists makes me happy :]
I'm loving this and have contributed a bunch already, but one problem I'm noticing is people labeling things "reviews" on videos that are definitely not reviews, like impressions videos or unboxings.
Interesting problem. I wonder if people will re-learn the correct terms over time when seeing other labeled submissions. I feel the word "review" has destroyed by a lot of YouTube channels.
Oh nice, thank you for making this and Sponsorblock Ajay, what a great person.
That seems cool. I'll definitely try that out, thanks for sharing!
Already using sponsor block and that saved me quite a bit of time!
Can this get rid of those horrible thumbnails "get rid of skin tags with this one weird trick!"
You can just use uBlock Origin for that
Regular uBlock takes care of those.
Youre right, thank you :)
Any plans for Safari?
Yes, I hope to have it up in a few weeks
I've been using it for a few days. Some occasional loading delays but it's been great. Thanks!