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DeArrow - A Browser Extension that removes clickbait titles and thumbnails
(dearrow.ajay.app)
The creators of SponsorBlock did it again, now we can crowdsource better titles and thumbnails as well. I just tried it with LinusTechTips who is a worst offender when it comes to clickbait and its really great.
Compare without DeArrow
and with the extension
DeArrow is in no way meant to be a rip off of "clickbait remover". It uses a completely different methods to retrieve thumbnails, using a thumbnail generation system instead of relying on "auto generated" thumbnails by YouTube.
You are right though that it is kind of made as that extension taken to the extreme.
I'd also like to clarify that the developer of "clickbait remover" contacted me and is very happy about my work. They also wished me luck on my soft-paywall plan.
It will be similar to how the SponsorBlock "chapters" feature was handled, except also having a system for some people to get free access as well (most likely after waiting some time, or going through some queue of people wanting free access)
Chapters on SponsorBlock are now free, but on release, were behind a paywall on the extension only. It's simply a boolean that changes client side that enabled the functionality, so adds no privacy implications that an authenticated API would. The API is still free for others to implement with, such as on alternative clients, and in theory you could build the extension with the check commented out of course.
It'll most likely be priced the same as chapters was (5$) with past donators automatically getting free access. But I might choose a lower price too depending on how it goes.
So it'll just be a client side flag on the extension itself.