h264ify

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

h264ify - Improve YouTube Streaming with H.264 Videos

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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Extension stats

By: erkserkserks

Users: 1,000,000+

Rating: 4.55

(1,147)

2 new ratings

Version: 2.0.1 (Last updated: 2024-10-20)

Creation date: 2019-09-08

Risk impact: High risk impact

Risk likelihood:

Very low risk likelihood

Manifest version: 3

Permissions:

scripting
storage

Host permissions:

*://*.youtube.com/*
*://*.youtube-nocookie.com/*
*://*.youtu.be/*

Size: 32.46K

Email: st*****@icloud.com

Ranking

# 431 ▼ 1

Other rankings

#2971 in Workflow & Planning ▲ 2

Other platforms

Not available on Android

h264ify (v1.1.0)

4.42

(214) 45,759+

h264ify (v1.1.0)

4.80

(25) 128,074+

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Extension 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

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 Chrome Web Store does not verify user reviews, so some user reviews may be inaccurate, spammy, or outdated.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 significantly when streaming videos.
Allows older computers to play videos smoothly.
Enables watching videos in HD (1080p or 720p) on low-spec devices.

Cons

Disables the ability to view videos at resolutions higher than 1080p.
Can cause playback errors or crashes on certain setups.
Does not work properly after recent updates or with certain browser configurations.

Most mentioned

Improves video playback performance on older hardware.
Causes issues with video playback on YouTube.
Reduces CPU load significantly compared to standard settings.

User reviews

God bless You! It's works. That's fine.

kc kc, 2024-12-15

Увы расширение начало ломать ютуб, выбивает ошибку и помогает только перезагрузка страницы, тогда видео начинает воспроизводиться. Надеюсь поправите в скором времени, расширение мастхев для слабых компьютеров.

BANZAY, 2024-12-14

Installing this disables the ability to view videos at higher than 1080p so it's pretty much useless for me. I get what it's for, but you should have the option to watch in higher resolutions. It should also plainly indicate in the extension description that you won't be able to watch in higher resolutions.