Show HN: uBlock filter list to blur all Instagram Reels(gist.github.com) A filter list for uBO that blurs all video and non-follower content from Instagram. Works on mobile with uBO Lite. |
Show HN: uBlock filter list to blur all Instagram Reels(gist.github.com) A filter list for uBO that blurs all video and non-follower content from Instagram. Works on mobile with uBO Lite. |
Sometimes we find ourselves stuck having to use a particular platform because that's where the group chat is.
I've had great success with Firefox and the Social Focus extension. Works on a number of different sites including YouTube, Reddit and Instagram.
here are their available patches for instagram: https://revanced.app/patches?pkg=com.instagram.android
I'll add also, for the odd thing that this doesn't filter, then I use uBlock Origin to filter that particular element.
LinkedIn has also been especially hard to find a good blocker for to remove the sponsored/suggested posts from the timeline (it's just full of garbage engagement bait hot takes).
I just vibecoded a tampermonkey script to block scrolling on Instagram and also block reels. I also had it redirect from the `/reels/` URL to `/reel` which is just the single video view (for when friends link me memes), but it seems they removed that.
For facebook I love Facebook Purity. Only problem is it's desktop only. https://www.fbpurity.com/
Edit, some things I've been able to us ublock origin for. Like facebook reels. Not 100% clean but enough to stop them from working (no video, just still thumbnail when you open them). In some ways that provides some reinforcement learning to the brain.
Hell, you're trying to make Instagram be what Instagram used to be. Back in the early (pre-Meta) days, it was just a reverse-chronological feed of the posts from people you followed.
A decent part of why I bailed on Instagram back in 2019 or so was because it had stopped being this for a while (posts reordered, some not even shown, so many ads).
But you can't turn that mode on as a default, and it essentially kicks you from the normal app hierarchy into a separate barebones screen. I find it's all for naught anyway because my friends have long since stopped making regular posts on Instagram, it's more common to use stories.
This sort of garbage is just yet another reason why I don't want to be on these platforms. "Oh, you prefer it this way? No, fuck you, we know better as to what you want."
> my friends have long since stopped making regular posts on Instagram, it's more common to use stories.
Ugh. I don't know what my friends have been doing these days on Instagram, but the last thing I want to spend my day doing is watching short-form video clips posted by my friends. The photo stream (yes, with occasional short videos), was wonderful.
That said, I go through cycles of removing the app and reinstalling it later because it gets addictive.
The goal isn't to scroll through nothing, but rather have a clean feed that shows me just my friends and nothing else.
> I'm trying to make Instagram be what my parents said Facebook was
This sure makes me feel old. It's a great goal though. I miss the golden era of Facebook when it was really just friend content.
||instagram.com^
I run PiHole + Unbound + OPNSense firewall at home, everything is filtered, plus Brave browser shield filter.
I also run GrapheneOS so I banned myself from using apps and use the mobile version instead, duuuuude, Instagram is actually usable.
To upload videos however, I must use its app, duuuuude, it is just ADs, suggestions, shorts and shit.
If people tried to use Instagram via Brave browser instead of the app, that alone would explain to you why I hate apps and how apps allow companies to push shit into you all.
So sharing an opinion you do not agree with is now called "promoting"? WoW
You no longer need to install extension that often are compromised, its Shield & Privacy is able to block YouTure Shorts and what not, no other browser does that or it does and Google find a way to bypass it.
We do not have access to the Shield lists, so neither does Google.
I used Firefox for years until it become useless, things might have changed now but too late.
And because I do not agree with your pov, I won't call it promoting Firefox, you do whatever pleases you!!
There is no truly good, independent, feature complete browser out there right now if you want to avoid Chrome and have something that a) works and b) isn't hostile to the userbase.
Brave at the very least said they'd keep supporting Manifest v2 extensions, though not sure how you'd acquire them anymore unless Chrome web store has kept the listings up.
Also if you're on android I recommend:
distractionfreeapps.com/
They make a bootleg version of the app with the ability to remove certain feeds, e.g. reels, discover, stories
Then this post is not for you, why even comment
I apply the 80/20 rule. 8 minutes allowed, followed by 2 minutes blocked. Then at night I reverse it. 2 minutes allowed, 8 minutes blocked. Just enough time to make one search query and then get off my phone. Or if I do get trapped by something, it's only for a short time.
Posts are the stuff that appears in the main feed and your profile permanently (unless you remove it manually)
You can also get into the difference between posts are reels but... they've kinda fuzzied that over the years.
Heading to the home page, opening the menu, and tapping "See More" reveals a "Feeds" option. Tapping the "Feeds" option then reveals the chronological feed.
* made friends to meet up with locally in the bay area from multiple hobbies (roadtripping, photography).
* made friends to meet up with in japan:
* i've now made at least a couple dozen friends who i've visited for meals, road trips, baseball games.
* been invited by other friends to come and take photos at their events and workspaces (like one works for a famous car tuner shop in Saitama and they asked if I could take photos of the owner as he fabricated parts for his race car)
* made another friend who's an expat living in Japan who takes photos as a job for various tourism agencies/local governments who i've hung out with
* made friends while in japan with people who also have shiba inu dogs and we keep in touch between visits using IG