I use a YouTube front end that doesn’t have a “feed” or algorithm based suggestions page. It only has a subscriptions page and the related videos side bar. I can still definitely go down rabbit holes, but they are often more focused and related to something I’m interested in, rather than devolving to slop.
This is exactly the thing i did and it worked wonders. (using FOSS Grayjay)
This has been my exit strategy. With no algorithm, I lose interest naturally and instead focus on...
Well the important thing is that I'm not giving YouTube ad revenue.
Got a lot better for me after I uninstalled it
How does one use revanced nowadays, asking for a friend.
All you need: https://revanced.app/
I spend 8 hours reading manwha on kotatsu, am I phucked?
Everyday? Yeah, fucked. But it's okay to let yourself relax everynow and then. (What do you even read for that long??)
Lil bit of... Everything?
Bro you spent 2 hours on the calculator wtf
I mean, if you're using it. Just imagine the phone sitting on table, screen on, calculator app opened. Like a real physical calculator.
Yesssssss--love me some Minutemen!!! That album is fantastic 😙🤌
Install more calculator apps and you won't have time for YouTube.
qalculate for android is good
I wish I knew
Looks like Saddam Hussein with a really beefy chest.
UNHAND HER DAN BACKSLIDE
UNHAND HER DAN BACKSLIDE
UNHAND HER DAN BACKSLIDE
The shape of your usage graph looks like a fat sadam meme
you know you don't have to read spam emails right? and there's no Nigerian Prince or any other celebrity contacting you via email.
We made the same joke!!! Love you lotsss
You should read more e-Mails!
Based Dropout enjoyer.
Watch at 2x speed.
I genuinely watch videos at 1.5x or 1.75x speed, I became used to it and watching at normal speed feels weird now
Uninstall apps then use YouTube via mobile browser.
The experience is just not as seamless, which makes it easier to disconnect.
I did something similar with Reddit, I also have Adblock setup on mobile with a custom rule to block Reddit.com. So if I do want to go on reddit, I specifically need to open the Adblock app and go through menus to enable it again.
And a more abstract answer, find something else to spend your time on.
Considering the Autoplay function doesn't even work half the time on mobile web, that's doubly true!
Yeah, use the official client, the stupid stupid ads will annoy you enough to interrupt you in frustration from time to time
Okay but what's going on with your calculator usage?
Friends invited me to a game of Okey and I can't really calculate shit well in my head (discalculia, like have you ever divided 6 by 3 and found 3 and thought it was perfectly sensible?) so I had to use my calculator app. I found this a few days after, by then I had forgotten the game (lol), thought a lot about whatever the fuck I did on my calculator for two hours. Had a good laugh when I figured it out
lol, happy to share in the laugh. I do love me a good calculator app.
Switching back to the official app might help. All those shitty ads and inability to PIP would make me spend less time.
Another option might be to keep using YouTube, but play music with it. Preferably lyricless music like soundtracks, jazz, or classical. Once YouTube is busy playing music it can't play anything else, and you can do other stuff while listening.
Thank you for replying but god couldn't force me to use the official app, that's like a one way to ticket to aneurysm town. I also use VLC so no need for music. But still thankies!!
To be clear, my second idea isn't to use YouTube for music because it's for music. It's to use YouTube for music because while listening to music on YouTube you can't be doing something else on YouTube. It's essentially a productivity 'hack'.
A bit more practical is just delete all of your history and disable history on YouTube. You won't get recommendations that way and it will be boring to spend time on youtube
I don't think I had history on since 2022, but yeah it's an incredible feature
Use Newpipe and only use the RSS based chronological feed for watching stuff. (Or just use a nice rss reader like feeder). Only subscribe to channels that make actual quality videos that you genuinly enjoy or make u learn cool stuff. That got me down to like 2-3 20-40min videos per day. When there is nothing new in your sub feed you stop using youtube. Any channel that frequently posts shorts gets kicked out of the feed.
This 100%. Have to get away from the recommendation algorithm. I also use leechblock to block the YouTube site indefinitely on firefox and forces me to use the newpipe app (I am a weak person).
Whatever works. It all takes some degree of self control but thats just how life is i guess. In the end it forced me to find new things or hobbies or try out that game i bought 2 years ago etc.
Its very different depending on your lifestyle. If you work and have no after work obligations you need a very different system than people that go to school or university that need to study at home.
Well what I did 3years ago, really cut down my usage of YT:
I switched to NewPipe. I got angry with tge deterioration of YT and the fact that they hid dislikes made me angry. So, I deleted the yt app and installed NewPipe. Newpipe doesnt support yt accounts, I was too lazy to add my subscription and set the default screen to an empty screen.
I used to watch yt for around 2hours per day (~mainly memes, but in the further past I used to watch more sciency-stuff) and now I spend around 15minutes per day (~mainly music or tutorials(?), though, lol, I use other apps/platforms more, like lemmy). I think the fact that the period I deleted YT it was a period of various changes, might helped me change my daily yt consumption too.
"someone who is good at the economy please help me calculate this. my battery is dying." ?
Do more math?
Uninstall youtube. Use newpipe. It gives you a chronological feed and only of the people you subscribe to. You can also create lists of channels. No more random youtube poop reccomebdations that steal your time from you. Next step, switch to only watching stuuf that is on peertube. I am not there yet though.
What if I specifically go out of my way for YouTube Poops?
The question was how to waste less time on youtube, not more.
I had the same problem 2 weeks ago. I uninstalled it. Fixed it. If you don't want to uninstall, set a timer for 0 minutes a day, if you have that feature.
You just need more monitors. Then you can let YouTube do its thing without really paying much attention to it and get on with your life on the other 2 or 3 screens.
Go for a bike ride or go out to get 10k stepa
