h264ify

Makes YouTube stream H.264 videos instead of VP8/VP9 videos

What is h264ify?

h264ify is a unique Chrome extension designed to optimize YouTube streaming. By default, YouTube uses VP8/VP9 encoded videos, which can slow down performance on less powerful devices due to lack of hardware acceleration. h264ify solves this by making YouTube stream H.264 videos, a format commonly hardware-accelerated by GPUs for smoother playback and reduced CPU usage. A must-have for seamless, energy-efficient viewing.

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Stats

Stats date:

By: erkserkserks

View on Chrome Web Store

Users: 1,171,761 ▲ 6.60K

Rating: 4.57 (1,105) ▲ 2 new ratings

Version: 1.1.0 (Last updated: 2019-09-09)

Creation date: 2019-09-08

Manifest version: 2

Permissions:

storage

Size: 30.72K

URLs: Website

Risk impact: Moderate risk impact

Risk likelihood: Very low risk likelihood

Chrome-Stats Rank

# 409 ▼ 37

Other rankings

#6262 in Workflow & Planning ▼ 201 #105 in cause keyword 35 ▲ 1 #123 in laptop keyword 64 ▼ 1 #157 in stream keyword 79 ▼ 2

Other platforms

h264ify (v1.1.0)

4.44 (192) 22,008

h264ify (v1.1.0)

4.60 (24) 118,238

Summary

Analyze keywords

Try h264ify if YouTube videos stutter, take up too much CPU, eat battery life, or make your laptop hot.

By default, YouTube streams VP8/VP9 encoded video. However, this can cause problems with less powerful machines because VP8/VP9 is not typically hardware accelerated.

In contrast, H.264 is commonly hardware accelerated by GPUs, which usually means smoother video playback and reduced CPU usage. h264ify makes YouTube stream H.264 videos instead of VP8/VP9 videos.

Github: https://github.com/erkserkserks/h264ify

User reviews

User reviews summary

These summaries are automatically generated weekly using AI based on recent user reviews. Chrome Web Store does not verify user reviews, so some user reviews may be inaccurate, spammy, or outdated.

Pros

Reduces CPU usage and shifts workload to GPU for better performance.
Improves video quality, enabling users to watch videos up to 1080p without stutter or lag.
Helps old/less powerful devices in running videos smoothly.
Reduces laptop overheating while running YouTube.

Cons

Blocks options to select any quality above 1080p.
Extension settings are synchronized across all devices, creating inconvenience for users with both high-end and low-end devices.
Some users experienced lag and freezing in videos.
Inability to support newer video formats like AV1 and WEBM.

Most mentioned

Significantly improves video playback on old or weak systems.
Blocks higher video resolutions like 2K and 4K.
Helps reduce CPU usage and laptop overheating.

View all user reviews

Safety

Risk impact

h264ify may not be safe to use and it requires some risky permissions. Exercise caution when installing this extension. Review carefully before installing.