How to watch YouTube without interruptions on iPhone and iPad

iOS is the hardest platform for this, because Apple restricts what apps can do and the App Store does not allow alternative YouTube clients. Here are the options that actually work, and what each one costs you.

Option 1: Use a web player in Safari

The simplest route on iOS. Because it runs in the browser, there is no app to install and nothing to sideload - which matters on a platform where sideloading generally is not an option.

  1. In the YouTube app, tap Share on the video, then Copy Link.
  2. Open skipads.site in Safari.
  3. Paste the link into the box and tap Watch Video.

The video plays on a page of its own, through YouTube's own player. Add the site to your Home Screen (Share → Add to Home Screen) and it opens like an app.

Option 2: YouTube Premium

The official answer, and the only one that covers the YouTube app itself as well as YouTube Music and offline downloads. It costs a monthly subscription, and a share of it goes to the creators you watch. If you watch a lot on your phone, it is a reasonable purchase.

Option 3: A content-blocking browser

Safari supports content-blocker extensions from the App Store, and several browsers ship their own blocking. These work on the mobile web, but not inside the YouTube app itself, and their effectiveness varies over time as things change on both sides.

What does not work on iOS

Modified YouTube clients that circulate for Android are not installable on a standard iPhone - Apple does not permit sideloading in most regions, and the App Store does not carry alternative YouTube clients. Any site promising an iOS app that replaces YouTube is worth treating with real suspicion.

A note on creators

Watching here still counts the view and the watch time on YouTube, so the creator is still credited. That is not true of every method - anything that downloads or re-hosts video cuts the creator out entirely.