Watch YouTube without ads with DuckDuckGo and Brave

DuckDuckGo has just updated the default QC blocking feature on YouTube for applications on iOS, Windows and Mac. Android will be available soon but can still be turned on manually in Settings > Ad Blocking. Brave has automatically blocked YouTube Ads for a long time, "Duck" follows, we have more options.

According to DuckDuckGo's announcement, this QC blocking feature uses uBlock Origin's filters and the filter list is continuously updated by the community. I tried installing it and watching videos on YouTube without logging in to my account and found that DuckDuckGo blocked it very effectively. However, this browser still warns that users may experience slow video loading or a black screen waiting for a few seconds before viewing, similar to the QC viewing time. If you have problems with the video, you can proactively turn it on and off as shown above.

In addition, DuckDuckGo also features Duck Player - an optimized player for YouTube viewing experience with no QC, no comments, no video suggestions in widescreen theater mode and automatically turns on YouTube privacy settings.

Surely you are already familiar with Brave, Brave's ability to block ads and trackers is still very "reputable" and is enabled by default. According to my experience, Brave still blocks QC on YouTube the best, video download speed is still fast and there is rarely a black screen thanks to Brave Shields being deeply integrated. However, if you find that Brave "loses its license" from time to time, you can go to Settings > Shields > Content Filters > Update lists to update new advertising filters. DuckDuckGo and Brave can both be downloaded from the application stores on the platform you are using.