Music Mode for YouTube™

Overview

Music Mode for YouTube™ is a browser extension that blocks the video and plays only the audio on YouTube, YouTube Music and embedded YouTube videos in third-party sites. It is compatible with Chrome, Firefox and most of the modern Chromium browsers. The extension:

• Blocks the video, playing only the audio
• Hides the thumbnails of the videos
• Skips the ads
• Hides the user avatars
• Disables the "Video paused. Continue watching?" message

Music Mode for YouTube™ is highly customizable since all the features are optional and can be turned on/off separately for YouTube, YouTube Music and embedded YouTube videos. Moreover, the extension can be enabled globally, for specific tabs, or temporarily for just a single video.

Note

Live videos are not blocked, just hidden.

Important

Due to recent changes on YouTube, it's no longer possible to separate audio from video, so the video cannot be blocked anymore. However, the extension still works on YouTube Music and YouTube for mobile, allowing you to block video and save bandwidth. We are trying to find ways to block the video again. Any help is appreciated!

Mobile support

The extension is fully compatible with YouTube for mobiles offering an extra feature that allows music and videos to play in the background. The extension can be installed in a smartphone using Kiwi, a Chromium browser for mobiles that supports extensions from the Chrome Web Store.

Reasons to use Music Mode for YouTube™

• Hide NSFW content while listening to music (e.g. in workplace)
• Reduce distractions on YouTube. Stay focused
• Save bandwidth
• Reduce CPU and GPU usage → reduce power usage → save battery → reduce your carbon footprint

Browser compatibility

• Chrome 88 or later
• Firefox 109 or later
• Edge 91 or later

For compatibility with other Chromium browsers, a version that supports Manifest V3 is required.

Installation

For all the Chromium browsers that support extensions from the Chrome Web Store the extension can be installed from the Chrome Web Store. These browsers are:

• Google Chrome
• Microsoft Edge
• Brave
• Opera
• Vivaldi
• Kiwi (for mobiles)
• etc

For the Firefox browser the extension can be installed from the Firefox Browser Add-ons.

Contribution

Any kind of contribution is welcome (refactoring, bug fixing, addition of new features, etc).

After downloading the source code:

• For Chromium-based browsers, rename manifest_chrome.json and config_chrome.js to manifest.json and config.js
• For Firefox, rename the corresponding files

Privacy Policy

The extension does not collect any kind of data. The user options are stored locally in the user's browser.

Support

Music Mode for YouTube™ is free. Support the development and maintenance of the extension through PayPal or Patreon.

Date of release

October 2, 2019