# How Adios removes YouTube ads

> Adios replaces YouTube's watch player with YouTube's own embed player, which serves no ads. Nothing is blocked, filtered or intercepted.

*Source: https://getadios.com/how-it-works/ · Language: en · Updated: 2026-09-17 · Adios 1.3 · Mac App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/adios-ad-blocker-for-youtube/id6782190165?mt=12*

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## Why the embed player has no ads

YouTube's embed player is the player YouTube provides to websites that embed videos, and it has never included the watch page's ad breaks.

It is the same video, served by YouTube from youtube.com. The difference is a product decision by YouTube, not a flaw: the embed player is public, documented in YouTube's IFrame Player API, and used by millions of sites. Adios requests that player through YouTube's own interface and inserts it into the watch page, stopping the original player so audio cannot overlap.

## How this differs from an ad blocker

A filter-list ad blocker works against YouTube's ad delivery. Adios avoids it entirely.

|  | Filter-list ad blocker | Adios |
|---|---|---|
| Method | Blocks requests and hides elements by rule list | Requests a YouTube player that has no ads |
| Maintenance | Rules break when YouTube changes its markup | No filter lists |
| Reads your traffic | Inspects requests to decide what to block | Does not |
| Detection surface | What anti-ad-block checks are built to find | Presents as an ordinary embedded player |
| Scope | Usually the whole web | youtube.com watch pages only |
| On failure | Ads return, or the page breaks | Falls back to YouTube's normal player |

This is also why Adios needs so little: a content script scoped to youtube.com and local storage for settings. It has no access to any other site.

## Will YouTube block it?

Adios produces none of the signals YouTube's anti-ad-block checks look for, because it does not block: no failed ad requests, no removed ad slots, no patched playback code.

That is structurally more durable than a rule list, but it is not a guarantee. YouTube controls both players and could change either. When the watch page changes, the fix ships; and because a failed swap restores YouTube's normal player, a break degrades to ordinary YouTube rather than to a broken page.

## What the approach costs

Because playback happens in YouTube's embed player, some watch-page player features differ or are absent.

- Controls are YouTube's, laid out differently from the watch player's.
- Watch-page extras such as the miniplayer and theater toggle behave differently or are unavailable.
- Shorts, live streams and premieres are not covered.

Resolution, captions, playback speed and fullscreen all work. Everything outside the player is untouched: the same page, description, comments and recommendations.

[Get Adios on the Mac App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/adios-ad-blocker-for-youtube/id6782190165?mt=12)

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*Adios is a Safari extension for macOS 13+ that makes YouTube ads disappear by swapping in YouTube's own ad-free embed player. 30 videos per month free, then a one-time $4.99 purchase — not a subscription. Contact: adios.contact@pm.me*