YouTube shows weaknesses in the app and also in the browser of Apple users. The iPhone and iPad in particular have too many restrictions. An app is now really pimping Apple’s Safari browser and tricking the video service.

The well-known tech blogger and expert Jon Gruber is enthusiastic about “Vinegar – Tube Cleaner” and currently recommends the Safari extension without restriction (source: Daring Fireball). His words are clear:

“I’ve been using Vinegar on all of my devices – iPhone, iPad, Mac – for over a week now – and I’m already at a point where I don’t know what I would do without it. Good work. $ 2 on the App Store. Buy – trust me. “

YouTube on iPhone, iPad and Mac is fun again

So what makes the app so special? Briefly described: Vinegar is a Safari extension that replaces the YouTube player with a minimal HTML video tag. This has a number of advantages, features that are otherwise sorely missed:

  • The removal of advertisements in videos.
  • Prevent YouTube from tracking play / pause / search activity.
  • Restore picture-in-picture functionality (finally and forever).
  • The playback of videos is not interrupted when switching to another browser tab.
  • It is also possible to choose the audio-only stream of a video so that the music continues to play when Safari is running in the background.
Vinegar – Tube Cleaner on the iPhone (Image: Apple App Store).

The opinions of users

With all these points, the use of YouTube in the browser is now much more comfortable – works both on YouTube’s website and with embedded videos. The previous users and not only Jon Gruber gave a good certificate – 4.3 out of 5 stars. There is still room for improvement, for example the lack of 4K support has been criticized. A maximum of 1080p is currently supported.

Vinegar - Tube Cleaner

Vinegar – Tube Cleaner

Developer: And a Dinosaur

“Vinegar – Tube Cleaner” is not free, according to the votes, but worth every cent of 1.99 euros. Important to know: iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and macOS 11.0 or newer must at least be present in order to be able to install the small but useful Safari extension.