Blocking YouTube Ads on Phones and TVs ​
TL;DR: Blocking YouTube ads on a computer is easy with browser extensions. On phones and TVs it's harder — DNS blockers like AdGuard Home don't work for YouTube. What does: Firefox on your phone (free, easy), ReVanced for Android, SmartTube for Android TV, or YouTube Premium if you'd rather not deal with any of it.
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⚠️ This is an advanced guide. Some of these methods involve installing apps from outside the official app stores. If that sounds uncomfortable, YouTube Premium is the honest easy answer — or try Firefox on your phone first, which is free and requires no tinkering at all.
Why Extensions Don't Help Here ​
On a computer, a browser extension like uBlock Origin works beautifully — it intercepts ads before they ever load. But on your phone or TV, YouTube runs as a dedicated app, not in a browser. Extensions have no reach into apps. YouTube's app talks directly to Google's servers, and unless something in between can intercept or filter that traffic, the ads get through.
There are a few different approaches depending on your device.
Why AdGuard Home and Pi-hole Don't Work for YouTube ​
If you've set up a DNS-based blocker at home and still see YouTube ads, you're not doing anything wrong — it genuinely doesn't work, by design.
YouTube serves its ads from the same domain as the videos themselves (googlevideo.com). A DNS blocker cannot tell the difference between a request for a video you want to watch and a request for an ad. If you blocked that domain, YouTube would stop working entirely. Google does this deliberately precisely because it defeats network-level blocking.
DNS blockers are excellent for blocking ad-tracking companies and third-party ad networks across thousands of sites and apps — but YouTube is specifically engineered to be immune to them. If you have AdGuard Home running and are still seeing YouTube ads on your phone or TV, this is why.
👉 DNS blocking is still worth having for everything else. See: Run Your Own DNS Server (AdGuard Home / Pi-hole)
Options That Actually Work ​
On Any Phone: Firefox + uBlock Origin (Easiest) ​
YouTube works perfectly inside a browser, and on mobile the best browser for this is Firefox — because unlike Chrome or Safari, Firefox on Android and iOS supports extensions, including uBlock Origin.
- Install Firefox for Android or Firefox for iOS
- Open Firefox, tap the menu, go to Add-ons, and install uBlock Origin
- Open YouTube in Firefox instead of the app
That's it. No ads, no tinkering, completely free. The trade-off is that you're using YouTube inside a browser rather than the app — you lose background audio playback and the experience is slightly less polished. But for many people, it's the easiest solution that actually works.
đź’ˇ On iOS, Firefox's extension support is more limited than on Android, but uBlock Origin is available on both.
Option 2: On Your Phone (App-Based Solutions) ​
iPhone ​
Apple's App Store includes AdGuard for iOS, which filters ads and trackers across your whole device by running a local DNS filter in the background. It doesn't require a computer and works on both Wi-Fi and mobile data.
The free version covers the basics. A paid upgrade unlocks custom filters and HTTPS filtering, which catches more ad traffic.
It won't completely eliminate every YouTube ad in-app — Apple's restrictions limit how deeply third-party apps can intercept traffic — but it makes a noticeable dent across the whole phone beyond just YouTube.
Android ​
Android gives you more flexibility.
AdGuard for Android works similarly to the iOS version but goes further: it can filter traffic across all apps on your device using a local VPN, catching ads in more situations. You download it directly from AdGuard's website (not the Play Store, due to Google's policies on ad-blocking tools).
ReVanced is a more involved option that completely removes ads from the YouTube app. It works by applying a "patch" to a copy of YouTube, creating a modified version that strips out the ad system entirely. The result looks and works exactly like YouTube without any ads at all — no skipping, no muting, no waiting.
The trade-off: you're installing a modified app from outside the Play Store, which requires a few extra steps. It needs to be updated manually whenever YouTube releases a major update. It's well-maintained and widely used, but it does require some patience to set up.
đź’ˇ If you're on Android and willing to spend 20 minutes following a guide, ReVanced gives the cleanest result: YouTube as you know it, just without any ads whatsoever.
Option 3: On Your TV ​
Android TV and Google TV ​
The best option for Android-based smart TVs and streaming devices (including Chromecast with Google TV, certain Sony and TCL televisions, and Nvidia Shield) is SmartTube — a completely free, open-source replacement for the YouTube app. It has no ads at all, supports 4K and HDR, and blends in well with your TV remote.
⚠️ Amazon Fire TV note: Amazon Fire TV devices released before October 2025 (such as the Fire Stick 4K and earlier) work fine. Newer devices like the Fire Stick 4K Select and later run Amazon's own operating system instead of Android — SmartTube is not compatible with those.
It does not come from the Play Store. You install it by sideloading — downloading the app file directly and transferring it to your TV. The easiest method is to install the Downloader app on your TV, open it, and enter kutt.it/stn_beta. The project's installation guide walks through all available methods in detail.
Once installed, it works just like YouTube: your account, your subscriptions, your history — all there. Just without the ads. It also includes SponsorBlock, which can automatically skip in-video sponsor segments if you want it to.
đź’ˇ SmartTube is one of the most recommended tools in home-theatre communities. If you have an Android TV, this is the method most people stick with long-term.
Samsung, LG, Roku, Apple TV, and Other Platforms ​
These platforms are more locked down. They discourage or prevent installing apps from outside their own stores, which rules out patched YouTube apps.
Your realistic options are:
- YouTube Premium — the most reliable solution for closed platforms
- Switch the device you use — if your TV supports it, a Chromecast with Google TV or an Amazon Fire TV Stick (pre-October 2025) can run SmartTube and replace the TV's built-in YouTube app entirely
- Use a laptop or phone instead — with Firefox and uBlock Origin, as described above
A Word of Honesty: This Is a Moving Target ​
Google actively tries to defeat ad blockers. Some of these methods have been broken by YouTube updates in the past and required updates to be usable again. ReVanced and SmartTube in particular rely on their developers keeping pace with YouTube changes, which they have consistently done — but it's worth knowing before you invest time in setting something up.
If you want something that will never break and requires no maintenance, YouTube Premium is £11.99/month in the UK and removes ads everywhere, on every device, with no effort. That's not the point of this guide — but it is the honest answer if the thought of maintaining any of this doesn't appeal to you.
💬 The tools mentioned here — AdGuard, ReVanced, and SmartTube — are all well-established, widely trusted, and actively maintained as of early 2026. They're used by millions of people worldwide. But because they work against a service that doesn't want them to exist, some maintenance is part of the deal.