The actual ‘video ID’ is the random string after:
-
How do you do that shortcut? I’ve been manually deleting the share identity from all my links for ages, and it’s kinda a pain in the ass on iOS
@drunkeskimo @stux You'll want to go into "Shortcuts", hit the large "+" (if on iOS 27), then it'll ask you to do AI nonsense so hit "Edit" in the upper right instead, and then you can add the various commands in order. If you search for things like "clipboard", "replace", and "copy", you should be able to find them. I can take screenshots of the individual steps, too. Actually, I might be able to just share the shortcut itself.
-
The actual ‘video ID’ is the random string after:
youtube.com/watch?v=
If there is a “&” or “?” with another random string that is the tracker
You can delete everything after the after the first random string starting with the “&”
Or don’t use #YouTube!
@stux Yeah, everyone should know about si=.
If you do use youtube (I'm guilty of sharing links), you might want to know the t= parameter, which seeks to time t in seconds. So, yeah, v and sometimes t are all you need.
-
The actual ‘video ID’ is the random string after:
youtube.com/watch?v=
If there is a “&” or “?” with another random string that is the tracker
You can delete everything after the after the first random string starting with the “&”
Or don’t use #YouTube!
@stux Also applies to Amazon links for anything after "/dp/[random string]"
-
The actual ‘video ID’ is the random string after:
youtube.com/watch?v=
If there is a “&” or “?” with another random string that is the tracker
You can delete everything after the after the first random string starting with the “&”
Or don’t use #YouTube!
@stux but every single content creator is on youtube? /s, ig
-
The actual ‘video ID’ is the random string after:
youtube.com/watch?v=
If there is a “&” or “?” with another random string that is the tracker
You can delete everything after the after the first random string starting with the “&”
Or don’t use #YouTube!
@stux@mstdn.social
Yeah I don't use it. It keeps demanding I sign in to watch anything.
Sooo I don't share links.
Vivaldi can usually cut the tracking stuff for other sites, but I try to be careful.
Funny how copying original links to Fediposts doesn't come with this problem; by design. -
The actual ‘video ID’ is the random string after:
youtube.com/watch?v=
If there is a “&” or “?” with another random string that is the tracker
You can delete everything after the after the first random string starting with the “&”
Or don’t use #YouTube!
@stux I prefer this version.
-
The actual ‘video ID’ is the random string after:
youtube.com/watch?v=
If there is a “&” or “?” with another random string that is the tracker
You can delete everything after the after the first random string starting with the “&”
Or don’t use #YouTube!
@stux And here is an iphone shortcut I made that strips these URL queries from a string in your clipboard and adds the clean URL to your clipboard.
I keep the shortcut on my home screen and click it before sending links. Lots of sites include user ID for shareable links.
https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/ae4f884d93a44906ad14c078cbf97542
-
The actual ‘video ID’ is the random string after:
youtube.com/watch?v=
If there is a “&” or “?” with another random string that is the tracker
You can delete everything after the after the first random string starting with the “&”
Or don’t use #YouTube!
I have been absolutely religious stripping off any tracking tags on YouTube links.
I stripped those sorts of things off of regular Web URL because they come loaded with them as well.
To hell with it all
-
-
The actual ‘video ID’ is the random string after:
youtube.com/watch?v=
If there is a “&” or “?” with another random string that is the tracker
You can delete everything after the after the first random string starting with the “&”
Or don’t use #YouTube!
@stux I do the same.
-
The actual ‘video ID’ is the random string after:
youtube.com/watch?v=
If there is a “&” or “?” with another random string that is the tracker
You can delete everything after the after the first random string starting with the “&”
Or don’t use #YouTube!
@stux I routinely remove it too and it's funny, I didn't know it was a tracker, I just thought it was messy unnecessary junk and I didn't trust it. Which, I mean, yeah
-
The actual ‘video ID’ is the random string after:
youtube.com/watch?v=
If there is a “&” or “?” with another random string that is the tracker
You can delete everything after the after the first random string starting with the “&”
Or don’t use #YouTube!
@stux People dont listen Stux I told them a bazillion times I also shared 4 to 5 cross platform & cross browser, ways to tell them and yet still I see them sharing the tracking URLs.
-
@stux there are a ton of browser plugins that can do that for you. I've used this one before https://github.com/ClearURLs/Addon
Granted that doesn't help on mobile so much.
@Tekchip @stux you can install the above in the mobile version of Firefox/waterfox.
To ensure its used for YouTube on mobile, you need to disable the YouTube app on android. They dont allow you to uninstall it without root, but it will stay disabled. Any YouTube links will then open in your browser instead.
This has the added benefit of letting you use extensions like ublock origin and unhook to de-enshitify YouTube on mobile too boot.
-
The actual ‘video ID’ is the random string after:
youtube.com/watch?v=
If there is a “&” or “?” with another random string that is the tracker
You can delete everything after the after the first random string starting with the “&”
Or don’t use #YouTube!
@stux Or you can use https://invidious.nerdvpn.de/watch?v=42iVcEg5SOM
-
The actual ‘video ID’ is the random string after:
youtube.com/watch?v=
If there is a “&” or “?” with another random string that is the tracker
You can delete everything after the after the first random string starting with the “&”
Or don’t use #YouTube!
@stux hidden rickroll spotted

-
The actual ‘video ID’ is the random string after:
youtube.com/watch?v=
If there is a “&” or “?” with another random string that is the tracker
You can delete everything after the after the first random string starting with the “&”
Or don’t use #YouTube!
@stux
Weirdly, when I copy a Youtube link from my browser it doesn't have those. Do they only get added if you click some "share" button? -
The actual ‘video ID’ is the random string after:
youtube.com/watch?v=
If there is a “&” or “?” with another random string that is the tracker
You can delete everything after the after the first random string starting with the “&”
Or don’t use #YouTube!
@stux Creators have to go nowhere (especially if they want to earn money):
- PeerTube has zero monetization whatsoever, except for the Donate button;
- Rumble is far-right;
- Odysse had a crypto controversy in the past;
- VK Video/Rutube not only russian, but also barely pay you and promote you (as a creator), preffering to promote whoever paid them;
- Vimeo/Daily motion and every other platform have zero monetization, or even require you to pay to upload.
And most importantly, no other platform is as big as YouTube to compete against. So even creators present on PeerTube have to mirror their content to YouTube, unless it violates YouTube's ToS. -
The actual ‘video ID’ is the random string after:
youtube.com/watch?v=
If there is a “&” or “?” with another random string that is the tracker
You can delete everything after the after the first random string starting with the “&”
Or don’t use #YouTube!
@stux what is that compression? blurry red over black... not ideal to be read
also we need more usless back margin on top

-
The actual ‘video ID’ is the random string after:
youtube.com/watch?v=
If there is a “&” or “?” with another random string that is the tracker
You can delete everything after the after the first random string starting with the “&”
Or don’t use #YouTube!
@stux Generally, I find all that source gunk is added when the video is in a list, but copying the link from a video being played doesn't add it (thereby avoiding having to remove it when pasting it somewhere).
-
The actual ‘video ID’ is the random string after:
youtube.com/watch?v=
If there is a “&” or “?” with another random string that is the tracker
You can delete everything after the after the first random string starting with the “&”
Or don’t use #YouTube!
@stux > XcQ