TwitchAdSolutions/README.md

TwitchAdSolutions

This repo aims to provide multiple solutions for blocking Twitch ads.

Recommendations

M3U8 proxies (or full proxies) are currently the most reliable way of avoiding ads (assuming you trust the third party). More proxy hosts would be ideal (see #8).

• Twitch AdBlock - chrome / firefox
• Twitch Video Ad Blocker - chrome / firefox (proxied url includes your user id / a unique id used for gql requests)
• proxy-m3u8 - see below (currently uses the proxy server used in Twitch AdBlock)

If you don't trust third parties then dyn-skip / dyn-skip-midroll-alt are decent. ttv-tools (firefox) also has nice features.

Current solutions

These solutions generally aren't compatible with other Twitch ad blockers. e.g. ttv-ublock will break dyn-skip (and others).

• dyn-skip (ublock / userscript)
  • Notifies Twitch that ads were watched before requesting the main live stream.
  • Falls back to mute-black if this fails (use an alternative solution if it always fails for you, as it adds additional load).
  • Midroll ads are muted/blacked out. See dyn-skip-midroll-alt for a an alternative solution.
• dyn-skip-midroll-alt (ublock / userscript)
  • A mix of dyn-skip / dyn. During midrolls this plays a low resolution stream instead of nothing - might be a little glitchy but should always play something.
  • If you see a Waiting for ads to finish banner without midroll in the banner text, you should be able to just refresh the page to get a regular stream.
• dyn-video-swap (ublock / userscript)
  • Ads are replaced by a low resolution stream for the duration of the ad.
  • Similar to dyn, but skips closer to 20 seconds when switching to the live stream.
  • You might see tiny bits of the ad.
  • Audio controls wont work whilst the ad is playing.
• dyn (ublock / userscript)
  • Ad segments are replaced by low resolution stream segments (on a m3u8 level).
  • Skips 2-3 seconds when switching to the live stream.
  • Stuttering and looping of segments often occur (during the ad segments).
  • NOTE: Removing segments doesn't notify Twitch that ads were watched (aka more served ads).
• low-res (ublock / userscript)
  • No ads.
  • The stream is 480p for the duration of the stream.
• mute-black (ublock / userscript)
  • Ads are muted / blacked out for the duration of the ad.
  • You might see tiny bits of the ad.
• proxy-m3u8 (ublock / userscript)
  • Uses a proxy server to fetch an ad-free stream.
  • Currently only the initial m3u8 is proxied, so there shouldn't be any additional latency.
  • Assumes the proxy server acts in good faith and maintains a good uptime.
  • The current proxy owner doesn't like the url being used by this project, an alternative host would be ideal. (requires a web server hosted in a non-ad country, taking a channel name as the last url arg, and fetching the m3u8 - see #8).

Applying a solution (uBlock Origin)

uBlock Origin solutions are single files, suffixed by ublock-origin.js e.g. low-res-ublock-origin.js.

• Navigate to the uBlock Origin Dashboard (the extension options)
• Under the My filters tab add twitch.tv##+js(twitch-videoad).
• Under the Settings tab, enable I am an advanced user, then click the cog that appears. Modify the value of userResourcesLocation from unset to the full url of the solution you wish to use (if a url is already in use, add a space after the existing url). e.g. userResourcesLocation https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pixeltris/TwitchAdSolutions/master/dyn/dyn-ublock-origin.js

Applying a solution (userscript)

Tampermonkey / Greasemonkey can be used on the files suffixed by user.js e.g. low-res.user.js

• Viewing one of the userscript files should prompt the given script to be added

Other solutions / projects

• https://github.com/odensc/ttv-ublock (extension - purple screen may display every 10-15 mins)
• https://github.com/Nerixyz/ttv-tools (Firefox extension)
• https://github.com/LeonHeidelbach/ttv_adEraser (extension)
• https://github.com/instance01/Twitch-HLS-AdBlock (extension)
• https://github.com/Wilkolicious/twitchAdSkip (UserScript + FrankerFaceZ)
• https://gist.github.com/simple-hacker/ddd81964b3e8bca47e0aead5ad19a707 (UserScript + FrankerFaceZ(optional))
• https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/415412-twitch-refresh-on-advert/code (UserScript + FrankerFaceZ(optional))
• Alternate Player for Twitch.tv - code (extension)
• Twitch AdBlock - code (extension - uses a proxy server to fetch an ad-free stream)
• Twitch Video Ad Blocker - code (extension - uses a proxy server to fetch an ad-free stream (proxied url includes your user id / a unique id used for gql requests))

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• https://github.com/streamlink/streamlink (desktop application)
• https://github.com/nopbreak/TwitchMod (android app)
• https://twitchls.com/ (external site - purple screen may display every 10-15 mins)
• Use a VPN targeting a region without ads

NOTE/TODO

NOTE: Many of these solutions could do with improvements.
TODO: Test midroll ads.
TODO: More testing in general.