YouTube Ads on Apple TV

Questions
1

Does anyone have any tips on how to block ads on YouTube when watching on Apple TV. It goes through NextDNS but from what I can gather the ads are delivered from the same domains as the videos, therefore DNS solutions aren’t effective. Any help appreciated.

2

Search for “Unwatched for Youtube” in the App Store.

Related discussion here.

1 Like
3

Thanks for the response. I’ve had a look but as far as I can tell the Unwatched Apple TV app just opens any streams in the YouTube app.

4

i use unwatched and i’m good, but have you tried a pihole or adguard home? those help kill ads on the network level. using the youtube app can be rough on tv since some ads are embedded

5

Do you use unwatched to actually watch the videos on YouTube (on Apple TV) or just to queue them?

I haven’t tried either pihole or adguard home, do they do more than DNS filtering?

6

I don’t have an Apple TV to test, but can you not watch YT from a web browser with an ad blocker? I don’t believe Apple allows real solutions to the YT problem such as as NewPipe or VacuumTube. Apple sides with the advertisers and not the users clearly.

7

I’ve only used Unwatched on my iPad and assumed it worked similarly on Apple TV. Only after revisiting the App Store listing do I notice it merely functions as a queuing tool for the Youtube app on tvOS. I suppose the option is mirroring from your iDevice, which isn’t exactly the solution you were looking for. Sorry for not being able to help.

8

There is no web browser.

9

This is a shocking, but unsurprising restriction. I am afraid that there is no real solution here other than throwing away that garbage and using a Linux HTPC instead, with VacuumTube or a web browser. (Also consider Plasma Bigscreen for a 10-foot interface.) This is my TV setup and, needless to say, I don’t see any ads anywhere.

10

Magic Lasso

Just come across this, will try out later. Anyone have any experience with this blocker on Apple TV?

11

Download Proton VPN (and pay the monthly fee) and use Albania as your country. Boom, all ads on YouTube gone. This is what we do on our Apple TV.

2 Likes
12

yeah this one here too, if you wanna use the app, setting vpn to albania works like a charm. no ads ever

13

Glad you found a solution, it’s a bit of a hack though, with high latency if you are far away. I think a platform under your control is a better long-term solution.

1 Like
14

Thanks all. I was still getting ads with Magic Lasso, but Albania has worked a treat. :folded_hands:

1 Like