For context I’m in the US. The last time I used YouTube without an ad blocker, there were 2 ads back to back, and way too frequently. I tried watching on my PlayStation tonight, and not only are they more frequent, they’ve increased in quantity by 150%. It’s also very common for the last ad to last 2 minutes to over an hour long. What the actual fuck, why would anyone watch YouTube without an ad blocker at this point? It’s literally unwatchable
Edit: the amount of unsolicited advice in the comments is unreal. I don’t get ads on my phone or on desktop, I’m very aware of how to block them. I simply won’t watch YouTube on my PlayStation anymore. I’m not looking for suggestions, please stop with the recommendations.
that would be correct. get a cheap laptop… even a shitty one for $200 (new) will work for yt… hook it up to hdmi, get a wireless kb/trackpad to stream surf from the sofa. i set a laptop (a junky stream14 with emmc) to not shut off when lid is closed. it stays closed. i sleep and wake it from the kb (k400 early model). that is my streaming ‘device’: browser (firefox)+addons>apps any day.
That’s a clunky, ugly and pricey solution that’s not suitable for 99% of all people.
Just get a cheap Google TV or Fire TV stick (starts at $20 not $200), install SmartTube and you not only will get a remote control come with it, you can control it with your TV’s remote via HDMI-CEC. You can also install any other official or personal streaming solution you like with full features like HDR etc.
an x64 laptop that can run anything you want, including browser addons or os ‘apps’ if that’s your jam, is clunky and ‘not suitable’ for “99%”? 99% of tv viewers wouldn’t know how to sideload an alternate ‘app’ or that they even exist. and ‘ugly’? the lid is always closed, it’s tucked away. i can’t even see it. as far as cost… used laptops are often given away. the one i use was someone’s discarded junk and is even new enough to ‘officially’ support 11 (it also does linux quite well).
That used to be true, but simply is no longer the case. Commercial streaming services are heavily restricting how and what you can output on your x64 PC.
You’re not only getting far better platform and format compatibility on your cheap Google TV or Fire TV stick, you’re also getting the far better apps and overall user experience.
That’s also nothing stopping you from installing Firefox on these devices or pairing a mouse with them, if you desperately need “browser plugins” and an less sofa compatible input device for whatever you’re doing in your living room.