Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

> I wish I had this for Twitter links in iOS Safari.

[self-promotion] My extension StopTheMadness does this: https://apps.apple.com/app/stopthemadness-mobile/id158308293...



I actually have this installed! But I disabled it for some reason that I can't remember; I think the defaults were too aggressive and I meant to come back and configure it more precisely when I had the time. I still need to do that... thanks for making it!

The other extension I can absolutely recommend is Vinegar, which replaces hostile video players like the one on YouTube (which injects JS to close itself if you attempt to use picture-in-picture) with a native HTML5 video element.


> replaces hostile video players like the one on YouTube (which injects JS to close itself if you attempt to use picture-in-picture) with a native HTML5 video element.

StopTheMadness also does this. ;-)


I’m guessing a side effect will be that SponsorBlock doesn't work anymore with this enabled?


I think it would still work, though I can't say for sure. In any case, it may become superfluous: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35085475

It should be noted that while the effects are similar on YouTube, StopTheMadness and Vinegar operate in significantly different ways.


Does it include a quality picker? Vinegar does more than just put a <video> tag in


Yes, check out the link above. Auto-select YouTube highest video quality, show video controls for all sites (not just YouTube), stop autoplaying videos for all sites (which also skips YouTube ads), etc.


FYI/YSK:

When youre on a video with forced ads where you cannot skip through them, go PiP on the video and use the arrow keys to scrub left or right...

I discovered this, then talked to a buddy at netflix, and he said that coding for PiP was a pain because PiP doesnt abide by DRM rules.

What would be cool is the ability to pipe a PiP to VLC and then use VLC to save out a video....


So you can take a screenshot with PiP without triggering the safeguards?


Report back with your findings.

But if you have any idea how to "pipe a PiP to VLC" let me know...

I'd like to figure out how to "pipe a PiP"


Does something like that exist for Reddit? Whatever it is they use on their website is a janky piece crap.


I’ve been using  Shortcuts to do this for a while now. Here’s my “Share Clean URL” shortcut: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/b1bcc002fe894f11858721c0b14...


I'm curious how you get this to work:

"Stops URL shorteners. Checks the links you click in Safari for well-known link shorteners — bit.ly, tinyurl.com, t.co (used by Twitter), etc. — and loads the unshortened destination URL instead of the shortened URL. This occurs without setting any cookies or other site data, so you can't be tracked by your click."

How can you determine the destination without revealing any tracking info to the link shortening service? Unless you make the request from your backend, wouldn't the user's IP address be revealed to the shortening service, allowing it (or data brokers) to join it with other data about them?


The IP address is revealed, yes. But there's no other data: no JavaScript, no referer headers, no cookies, URL tracking tags are removed before and after, etc.

I don't have any backend. The extension code is all local on your device and doesn't phone home to me. I don't aim to provide VPN service.


I can recommend this. Does lots of other useful things too.


Nice. I'm a user and I also recommend it.


Does it work in firefox ios? (Hoping webview makes it work but dont really understand extensions on ios)


No, just Safari.


Looks great! Is the one purchase price for use across iOS and MacOS? Or two separate purchases?


Separate purchases.


Love this extension!




Consider applying for YC's Winter 2026 batch! Applications are open till Nov 10

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: