# UnTrap for YouTube

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/untrap/

7 people recommended UnTrap for YouTube in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 12 months, in 8 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Removes YouTube Shorts, recommendations and comments, which people say cut their viewing sharply. The most common caveat: it adds little over the stock site.

Summary written by Claude from 14 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 13 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Removes Shorts and feeds (3 comments in the sample): "turns off all of the distracting nonsense I don't use (Shorts and recommendations" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48448587)) "UnTrap for iOS. No suggestions, no shorts, and no comments." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46409842)) "Remove shorts and make UI amazing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47787337))
- Works on iOS Safari (1 comment in the sample): "Try Unhook (desktop) and Untrap (iOS" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47390108))
- Cuts YouTube usage sharply (1 comment in the sample): "Both work flawlessly, and reduced my YouTube usage to almost zero." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48306957))
- Configurable distraction removal (1 comment in the sample): "It lets you configure away the things that distract you." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47374441))

## What people warn about

- Little difference from stock site (1 comment in the sample): "it didn’t really make my experience better in a way that made me actually want to use it over the vanilla experience" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48507237))

## Other website blockers people recommend

- [One Sec](https://hackerapproved.com/p/one-sec/): 10 recommend, 1 mixed, 1 criticize
- [ScreenZen](https://hackerapproved.com/p/screenzen/): 9 recommend, 1 mixed, 1 criticize
- [LeechBlock NG](https://hackerapproved.com/p/leechblock/): 7 recommend, 0 mixed, 1 criticize
- [SelfControl](https://hackerapproved.com/p/selfcontrol/): 6 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://untrap.app/)

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "UnTrap for YouTube", https://hackerapproved.com/p/untrap/ (7 recommend, 1 mixed, 2 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.