> Does this or Vanced help with the problem I have: my kids are being brainwashed via Google's algorithms?
Actually yes, kind of? At least a little bit.
NewPipe doesn't have parental controls, so if you don't trust your kids to keep these things on, NewPipe can't help you. However, if you do trust kids and you just want a way to remove some of the influences, NewPipe (and NewPipexSponsorblock[0], if you're comfortable using a fork) have some really compelling features:
- You can turn off comments
- You can turn off recommended videos (including "next/similar" sections alongside videos you're watching)
- NewPipexSponsorblock will skip (many) advertisements within videos
- You can turn off search suggestions as you're searching for new videos
- There are some nice feed options that allow you to have much more curated update feeds, so you spend less time searching for videos in the first place.
----
However:
- Again, no parental controls. You either trust your kids to use it or you don't, because your kids can go into the settings and just flip all this stuff back on.
- No way to block videos/channels from appearing in search results, which is something I would love.
- No way to do things like get rid of search and only use a feed.
There is talk on the NewPipe issue tracker about adding a blocklist feature, which I think would be a great improvement, but I have no idea what the priority is[1] or when it would happen.
----
I'll speak anecdotally here, but I think that even just Sponsorblock makes a huge difference in the Youtube experience, and I advise any parent with kids to use either NewPipe or the NewPipexSponsorblock fork, and I advise them to install Sponsorblock on their desktop browser. I think that getting rid of recommended videos improved my experience dramatically, I think that having better feeds means I spend less time on Youtube in the first place. I have ADD, these are some of the ways I improve my focus and eliminate distractions.
In regards to Sponsorblock, we can get into debates about whether blocking embedded ads inside of videos is moral; I have my own opinions about that but I understand that it can make people uncomfortable. However, I think the gloves come off when we're talking about kids. I don't think there's a moral argument to be made that kids need to sit through sponsored segments and over-long intros and get crud shoveled at them against their will to support Google.
But basically, even though blocking isn't in yet you can still get rid of a lot of Google recommendations and you can get rid of really cruddy surrounding parts to videos like comments/watch-next/etc, and I think that's really helpful for kids.
Actually yes, kind of? At least a little bit.
NewPipe doesn't have parental controls, so if you don't trust your kids to keep these things on, NewPipe can't help you. However, if you do trust kids and you just want a way to remove some of the influences, NewPipe (and NewPipexSponsorblock[0], if you're comfortable using a fork) have some really compelling features:
- You can turn off comments
- You can turn off recommended videos (including "next/similar" sections alongside videos you're watching)
- NewPipexSponsorblock will skip (many) advertisements within videos
- You can turn off search suggestions as you're searching for new videos
- There are some nice feed options that allow you to have much more curated update feeds, so you spend less time searching for videos in the first place.
----
However:
- Again, no parental controls. You either trust your kids to use it or you don't, because your kids can go into the settings and just flip all this stuff back on.
- No way to block videos/channels from appearing in search results, which is something I would love.
- No way to do things like get rid of search and only use a feed.
There is talk on the NewPipe issue tracker about adding a blocklist feature, which I think would be a great improvement, but I have no idea what the priority is[1] or when it would happen.
----
I'll speak anecdotally here, but I think that even just Sponsorblock makes a huge difference in the Youtube experience, and I advise any parent with kids to use either NewPipe or the NewPipexSponsorblock fork, and I advise them to install Sponsorblock on their desktop browser. I think that getting rid of recommended videos improved my experience dramatically, I think that having better feeds means I spend less time on Youtube in the first place. I have ADD, these are some of the ways I improve my focus and eliminate distractions.
In regards to Sponsorblock, we can get into debates about whether blocking embedded ads inside of videos is moral; I have my own opinions about that but I understand that it can make people uncomfortable. However, I think the gloves come off when we're talking about kids. I don't think there's a moral argument to be made that kids need to sit through sponsored segments and over-long intros and get crud shoveled at them against their will to support Google.
But basically, even though blocking isn't in yet you can still get rid of a lot of Google recommendations and you can get rid of really cruddy surrounding parts to videos like comments/watch-next/etc, and I think that's really helpful for kids.
----
[0]: https://github.com/polymorphicshade/NewPipe
[1]: https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe/projects/13#card-3163...