h264ify

Name: h264ify
Rating: 4.8 (27 reviews)
Author: erkserkserks

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

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h264ify is a Chrome extension that improves YouTube video playback by making YouTube stream videos in the H.264 format instead of VP8 or VP9. VP8/VP9 videos often cause higher CPU usage, stuttering, and increased battery consumption since they usually lack hardware acceleration on many devices.

H.264 is widely supported for hardware acceleration by GPUs, resulting in smoother video playback, reduced CPU load, and less heat generation on laptops and less powerful machines. By forcing YouTube to use H.264 streams, h264ify helps optimize video streaming performance and energy efficiency. Note that 4K and 1440p videos aren't available with this extension as those resolutions are no longer encoded in H.264 by YouTube.

Check out the open-source project on GitHub: https://github.com/erkserkserks/h264ify

Add-on Video Utilities Productivity

By:

Users:

Rating:

Version:

2.0.1 Last updated: 2025-03-02

Creation date:

2020-05-24

Risk:

Permissions:

scripting
storage

Host permissions:

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

Size:

29.15KB

URLs:

Website

Full description:

Source:

Edge Add-on Store

Data ingested on:

2025-07-17

Ranking

# 376

Other rankings

#114 in Productivity ▼ 2

#5 in laptop keyword 5

#6 in cause keyword 23

#37 in stream keyword 54

#53 in usage keyword 17 ▼ 3

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Other platforms

h264ify (v1.1.0)

49,444 4.42

(220)

User reviews

The h264ify add-on is praised for enhancing video playback on low-end and older laptops by reducing lag, lowering CPU/GPU usage, and providing smoother YouTube streaming through forced H.264 codec usage. However, users commonly note that it restricts video resolution to 1080p and sometimes blocks Full HD videos unintentionally. The absence of per-device controls also complicates usage across various hardware setups. Overall, it is valued for performance improvements but has limitations regarding resolution and flexibility.

Pros

Significantly reduces lag and improves video playback performance, especially on low-end or older laptops.
Helps lower CPU and GPU load, resulting in less overheating and battery consumption.
Effectively disables VP9 and AV1 codecs, favoring H.264 which is better supported on low-end hardware.
Improves YouTube streaming quality in real-time, making videos smoother and more fluid.

Cons

Limits maximum video resolution to 1080p, preventing resolution above this level.
Some users experience undesired blocking of Full HD (1080p) videos in addition to 60fps, leading to dissatisfaction.
Lacks device-specific enable/disable options, making management across multiple devices cumbersome.

Recent reviews

Saved my life. Thank you, son

by Ga*****, 2025-05-24

best extainson for low end pc

by Ar*****, 2025-05-17

I love you. You are my hero! You help me solve the problem of lagging when I use vsr to watch youtube in 1080p full screen.

by Gu*****, 2025-04-19

View all user reviews ›

Extension safety

Risk impact

Risk impact measures the level of extra permissions an extension has access to. A low risk impact extension cannot do much harms, whereas a high risk impact extension can do a lot of damage like stealing your password, bypassing your security settings, and accessing your personal data. High risk impact extensions are not necessarily malicious. However, if they do turn malicious, they can be very harmful.

h264ify requires some sensitive permissions that could impact your browser and data security. Exercise caution before installing.

Risk impact analysis details

Critical Request access to the following domains: {{requestedDomains}}
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Risk likelihood

Risk likelihood measures the probability that an Edge add-on may turn malicious. This is determined by the publisher and the Edge add-on reputation on Edge Add-on Store, the amount of time the Edge add-on has been around, and other signals about the Edge add-on. Our algorithms are not perfect, and are subject to change as we discover new ways to detect malicious extensions. We recommend that you always exercise caution when installing an Edge add-on.

h264ify has earned a good reputation and can be trusted.

Risk likelihood analysis details

Medium This extension has medium user count. Unpopular extensions may not be stable or safe.
Low **** ********* *** ******* **** **** * ****** **** ***** ******** *** **** ****** ** ** ****** *** *****
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