Alternatives
Products that do what A Chrome extension to give you back control over short-form videos does
Hi HN! I built this little extension to prevent, in my opinion, the most offensive anti-pattern used by tech companies. That is removing the seek bar in short-form videos. The "seek bar" is the bar at the bottom of a video that progresses as you play the video, and that you can click on or drag to skip around. Why companies ever thought it was a good idea to get rid of this I don't know, but I find it infuriating, so I decided to add it back for myself and thought others might like it too. ReelControl adds a progress bar and seeking capabilities to videos on Instagram, YouTube Shorts, and…
- 1YB
Hi HN! Since Youtube no longer allows AdBlockers, I built my own extension to get around their video ads. If there is an ad it temporarily manipulates the video; Mutes the volume, sets speed to 10x, and skips it if there is a button. Chrome Webstore link: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ad-accelerator/gpbo... Code: https://github.com/rkk3/ad-accelerator
2023
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I wanted to find a way to use Instagram without ending up scrolling for two hours every time I open the app to see a friend's story. Most screen time apps I found focus on blocking the app itself instead of the addictive feed, so I created this app to allow me to keep using the "healthy" and "social" features and block the infinite scrolling (Reels) After implementing the block on Instagram Reels, I got addicted to YouTube Shorts and Reddit feed. So, I extended the app to cover these as well. To avoid replacing the scrolling for regular feeds, I also added a feature that shows a pop-up when…
2025 · scrollguard.app
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Hi all, I'm an indie hacker and I've been working on watchlimits.com over last couple months. It's a chrome extension that helps you set limits (greatly customizable) and provides you stats and various accountability features. It only runs on the video streaming platforms (not everywhere) and it's privacy centric. Almost all functionality is available for free, but some advanced features only available in the paid version (password protection, allowed youtube channels). It's a pretty niche tool that originated from my own occasional struggles (lost sleep anyone?), even though many people…
2022 · watchlimits.com
- 5CP
Hi HN, I recently released a new browser extension for YouTube, which in addition to the table stakes of hiding the existence of Shorts, hiding promoted content, automatically skipping ads, hiding useless/unused UI elements, hiding unwanted channels YouTube keeps recommending to you, letting you hide algorithmic suggestions etc. etc., makes other changes I've always wanted as a user, in the same vein as one of my other extensions, Control Panel for Twitter. The most significant of those is attempting to make your Subscriptions page more like an Inbox, by hiding videos you've already…
2024
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I am neurodivergent and noticed the Youtube Shorts format was hacking my brain to engage longer than I wanted. I wrote this quick extension to gain my time back. If you have suggestions for improvement, I'm all ears. Thank you :)
2024 · github.com
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This is a small project i made years ago and updated to whisper last year, i still use it from time to time and thought it might be useful to others, or just put the idea out there for someone better than me to make a better implementation!
2024 · github.com
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Hello HN Over the New Year's break, I created semanticvideosearch.com. This can search any video based on meaning and context. I would love to get your feedback on it. What should I change and what can be improved? The preprocessed videos can be search very quickly, while the youtube video links take some time (yt videos also have a upper duration limit due to compute issues). I intend to add search based on the frames of the video soon. I would love to know your thoughts on the demo and any suggestions for improvements. Thanks! PS: the inspiration to create this was to get the 2 mins of…
2023 · semanticvideosearch.com
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Take control of your feed and eliminate distractions
5d ago · waafaa.com
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Block Reels, Shorts with surgical precision. Keep the rest.
Jun 2026 · reelkill.thermalstudios.xyz
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2023 · native-video.com
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2020 · baitblock.app
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Hi HN! I built VAM Seek because I was frustrated with 1D seek bars – you never know where you're going until you get there. VAM Seek renders a 2D thumbnail grid next to your video. Click any cell to jump. All frame extraction happens client-side via canvas – no server processing, no pre-generated thumbnails. - 15KB, zero dependencies - One-line integration - Works with any element Live demo: https://haasiy.main.jp/vam_web/deploy/lolipop/index.html Would love feedback!
Jan 2026 · github.com
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Auto-scroll & floating video(PiP) for Shorts, Reels & TikTok
Jun 2026 · chromewebstore.google.com
- 24IB
Hi HN! I built SkipCut it’s like an ad-free, distraction-free YouTube with useful extras: background play, SponsorBlock, dark mode, playlist support, local history, download/share buttons… and it works on any device. No install. No login. Here’s the best part: It works just by replacing "youtube" with "skipcut" in the video link. You skip all the boring stuff — ads, sponsors, intros, silence, filler and just watch what matters. Why it’s different: No comments. No suggested videos. No clickbait. I made this for my kid, I create a playlist and just send a SkipCut link like:…
2025 · skipcut.com
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