Show HN: Dull – Instagram Without Reels, YouTube Without Shorts (iOS)

24•kasparnoor•3h ago

I kept deleting and redownloading Instagram because I couldn't stop watching Reels but needed the app for DMs. Tried screen time limits, just overrode them. So I built this.

Dull loads Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and X and filters out short-form content with a mix of CSS and JS injection. MutationObserver handles anything that lazy-loads after the page renders, which is most of the annoying stuff since these platforms love to load content dynamically.

The ongoing work is maintaining the filters. Platforms change their DOM all the time, Instagram obfuscates class names, YouTube restructures how Shorts appear in the feed, etc. It's a cat-and-mouse thing that never really ends.

Also has grayscale mode, time limits, and usage tracking.

Happy to answer questions.

Comments

SoKamil•1h ago

This could have been Safari Extension

mind_heist•47m ago

Instagram is not predominantly used on Safari, so Safari doesn't sound like the best place to implement something like this.

nativeit•18m ago

Isn’t this just WebKit with some user scripts anyway?

dnlzro•18m ago

The use case for this app (Dull):

1. Uninstall Instagram

2. Install Dull

3. Use Instagram via Dull

The use case for a Safari extension:

1. Uninstall Instagram

2. Install the Safari extension

3. Use Instagram via Safari

Am I missing something that is obviously better about Dull (which couldn't be replicated by a Safari extension)?

(P.S. this is not meant to discourage the developer of Dull; I like the idea and your implementation seems really good.)

bryanhogan•1h ago

Sounds like a good project, I also hate that Instagram pushes algorithm-driven content into your face everywhere without any options to turn it off, it's good to fight against these toxic dark design patterns.

Can also recommend using Instagram with the IGPlus web extension. Or for a native Android version there's also DFinstagram.

For YouTube there are many web extensions as well. On Android the YouTube ReVanced patch is really good though.

IGPlus: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/android/addon/igplus-extens...

DFinstagram: https://www.distractionfreeapps.com

danpalmer•1h ago

Doing this as a browser extension is one thing, but selling an interface to Instagram and YouTube sounds like it's very risky.

What's your basis for thinking this will work long term? I see you're selling yearly or lifetime subscriptions, suggesting you think the product can exist. There have been many attempts at this in the past that have been taken down, why is Dull different?

buzzerbetrayed•31m ago

Why wouldn’t making a paid web browser be legal?

danpalmer•11m ago

Obviously it isn't, but also obviously: this isn't a web browser in anything but technical implementation. It's a packaged, sold, interface to a proprietary service with a set of T&Cs that they are free to enforce.

Also every single one of these that I've seen before has fallen down in the same way. Chat apps that embed Facebook, third party YouTube viewer for Apple's VR headset, various other third party Instagram apps, etc.

convexly•1h ago

The fact that someone had to build a separate app just to get the version of Instagram from 5 years ago says a lot.

joenot443•55m ago

How does your system differ from an extension like this?

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/remove-youtube-shor...