FreeYT

FreeYT is a Safari Web Extension for iPhone, iPad, and Mac that routes supported YouTube links through youtube-nocookie.com and keeps a local-first privacy dashboard in the companion app.

What ships

• A native SwiftUI dashboard with Overview, Activity, Exceptions, Trust, and Setup
• Guided onboarding that helps users enable the extension and verify protection
• A compact Safari popup with primary protection control, quick stats, current-site exception support, and exception management
• A background service worker that owns extension state, redirect rules, recent activity, and native sync
• A small content script banner on youtube-nocookie.com pages that explains the privacy-enhanced route
• Seven declarative redirect rules covering watch, shorts, embed, live, mobile watch, short links, and legacy /v/ URLs

Product model

FreeYT stays local-first:

• No accounts
• No analytics
• No remote dashboard backend
• No cross-site tracking
• State stays on-device in the shared app-group container and Safari extension storage

The shared dashboard snapshot includes:

• enabled
• videoCount
• dailyCounts
• lastProtectedAt
• recentActivity
• exceptions
• lastSyncState
• lastSyncTimestamp

Architecture

Host app

• FreeYT/SharedState.swift stores the shared dashboard snapshot in the group.com.freeyt.app app group
• FreeYT/Models/DashboardStore.swift coordinates app-side state, navigation, and actions
• FreeYT/LiquidGlassView.swift renders the dashboard shell
• FreeYT/Views/Onboarding/OnboardingView.swift drives setup

Safari extension

• FreeYT Extension/Resources/manifest.json defines the MV3 extension, popup, background worker, content script, and permissions
• FreeYT Extension/Resources/background.js manages redirect state, exceptions, recent activity, and native sync
• FreeYT Extension/Resources/popup.html, popup.css, and popup.js implement the popup
• FreeYT Extension/Resources/banner.js shows the explanatory banner on youtube-nocookie.com
• FreeYT Extension/SafariWebExtensionHandler.swift handles native messaging and app deep links

Redirect coverage

FreeYT Extension/Resources/rules.json currently ships 7 main_frame redirect rules:

1. youtube.com/watch?v=...
2. youtube.com/shorts/...
3. youtube.com/embed/...
4. youtube.com/live/...
5. m.youtube.com/watch?v=...
6. youtu.be/...
7. youtube.com/v/...

All supported routes redirect to https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/<video-id>?autoplay=1.

Bundle identifiers and shared container

The project is aligned around:

• App: com.freeyt.app
• Extension: com.freeyt.app.extension
• Widget: com.freeyt.app.widget
• App group: group.com.freeyt.app

Those values are used by the Xcode project, entitlements, shared state, and native messaging bridge.

Build

xcodebuild -project FreeYT.xcodeproj -scheme FreeYT \
  -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 17' build

xcodebuild -project FreeYT.xcodeproj -scheme FreeYT \
  -destination 'platform=macOS,variant=Mac Catalyst' build

Test

xcodebuild test -project FreeYT.xcodeproj -scheme FreeYT \
  -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 17'

Extension tests:

cd "FreeYT Extension/Tests"
npm test

Manual verification

1. Build and run the app.
2. Enable the FreeYT extension in Safari.
3. Complete the onboarding flow in the host app.
4. Open a supported YouTube URL and confirm it lands on youtube-nocookie.com.
5. Open the Safari popup and verify:
   • protection can be paused and resumed
   • Today, This Week, and All Time counts update
   • Bypass this site adds and removes a trusted exception
6. Open the host app and verify recent activity, exceptions, trust copy, and setup checklist.

Accessibility and adaptation

The dashboard and popup are designed to respect:

• Dynamic Type
• Light and dark appearance
• Reduce Motion
• Reduce Transparency where system materials fall back
• VoiceOver and semantic labels for popup controls and status regions

Repo layout

FreeYT/
├── FreeYT.xcodeproj/
├── FreeYT/
├── FreeYT Extension/
├── FreeYTWidget/
├── FreeYTTests/
├── FreeYTUITests/
├── PRIVACY.md
└── README.md