minulo is an iPhone app that gets rid of YouTube Shorts and keeps normal videos: it opens YouTube with the Shorts shelf and the Shorts tab hidden, while normal videos, search and subscriptions keep working, and hiding Shorts is free. The built-in option is YouTube's Shorts feed limit set to 0 (You > Settings > Time management > Shorts feed limit), which costs nothing, but on an adult account you can dismiss the limit when it appears. I should say up front that I built minulo, so read the comparison below with that in mind.
Option 1: the Shorts feed limit set to 0
This is the setting most people find first.
- Sign in to the YouTube app.
- Tap the You tab, then Settings.
- Tap Time management, then Shorts feed limit.
- Pick a time from the list. 0 is one of the options.
When you reach the limit, YouTube shows a reminder. Its help page says you are then "prompted with an option to dismiss or ignore your set limit." So it works as a nudge, not a wall. Other gaps:
- Shorts can still appear in Subscriptions and in links people send you.
- The help page describes the setting for the YouTube app only, not youtube.com.
- It doesn't say whether Shorts leave search results or channel pages.
If a nudge is enough for you, this is the cheapest fix there is.
Other built-in options and what they leave behind
| Option | What it does | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Show fewer Shorts (⋮ on the Shorts shelf) | Tells YouTube you want fewer Shorts on Home | Fewer, not none. YouTube doesn't say how long it lasts |
| Turn off watch history | With no relevant recent history, homepage recommendations are removed | YouTube's help doesn't say this removes the Shorts tab |
| Supervised teen account | Parents can set a Shorts scrolling timer, including zero | Only for supervised teen accounts |
| iPhone Screen Time | App Limits can limit or block the whole YouTube app | Can't target Shorts only, so long videos go too |
Screen Time is the strictest free option, but it treats YouTube as one app. If you use YouTube for lectures, recipes or music, blocking the whole thing is usually more than you want.
Option 2: hide Shorts with minulo (free)
minulo opens YouTube inside the app and lets you hide parts of it one switch at a time. There is no reminder to tap past.
- Install minulo from the App Store.
- On the home screen, tap Add a service and choose YouTube.
- Tap the gear next to YouTube and turn on the Shorts switches: Hide the Shorts shelf, Hide the Shorts tab and Send Shorts links to the normal player.
- Optional: open the Block tab, allow Screen Time, and choose YouTube in Apps to block.
After step 4, tapping the official YouTube icon shows a "Blocked" screen with an Open in minulo button, so the habit of opening YouTube leads you to the version without Shorts. Home recommendations can be hidden too, and subscriptions, Watch later and search stay.
Hiding Shorts is free, and so is locking the official app for up to 2 hours per block. Schedules by day and time, longer blocks and Hard Mode are part of minulo Pro.
Other apps that hide Shorts in their own view or in Safari include UNDOOMED, Nope and LoomWeb. Nope is fully free but works only in Safari.
What minulo can't do
I'd rather you know these before installing:
- The official YouTube app is not changed. On iPhone, no app can change what another app shows. Shorts are hidden only inside minulo. That is why it offers to lock the official app.
- A free lock lasts up to 2 hours. You can start another as soon as one ends. Hiding Shorts itself has no time limit.
- iPhone and Mac only. There are Chrome and Safari extensions too, but no Android version yet (it is in testing).
- No notifications while an app is blocked. While minulo blocks the official YouTube app, that app's notifications don't arrive, and minulo sends none of its own.
- Hidden parts can come back for a while when YouTube changes its pages.
A short note on how it works
minulo opens each network's official website inside the app and hides the parts you choose on that page. You sign in on the network's own login page, so minulo never receives your password. The lock uses Apple's Screen Time: when a blocked app is opened, iOS shows a block screen, and the button on it sends you to minulo instead. Because the hiding depends on YouTube's web pages, the rules are checked automatically every week, and when YouTube changes something, the fix follows once it's confirmed.
Which one to pick
- You just want fewer Shorts and can trust yourself to tap away: the Shorts feed limit at 0.
- You never want YouTube on your phone: Screen Time on the whole app.
- You want normal videos and subscriptions but no Shorts at all, with no button to tap past: minulo, plus the free lock on the official app if you keep opening it out of habit.
Full details and sources for each method are on this page: Every way to block YouTube Shorts on iPhone. If you want more on the built-in setting alone, see YouTube's Shorts feed limit explained.
Written by Ayumu Kitabayashi, the solo developer of minulo. Menu names can change with app and iOS updates.
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