Shorts Stopper banner

Shorts Stopper

Created by: Avik Rathi
5 devlogs
23h 0m 33s

Shorts Stopper is a lightweight browser extension designed to help users control their time spent on YouTube Shorts. It allows users to set a daily viewing limit and promotes healthier digital habits by encouraging alternative activities.

The e…

Shorts Stopper is a lightweight browser extension designed to help users control their time spent on YouTube Shorts. It allows users to set a daily viewing limit and promotes healthier digital habits by encouraging alternative activities.

The extension tracks the time spent specifically on YouTube Shorts and displays a real-time countdown timer while browsing. Once the selected limit is reached, access to Shorts is blocked and replaced with a motivational message suggesting productive or enjoyable activities based on the user’s interests.

Users can customize their experience by selecting personal interests such as sports, coding, reading, or entertainment. These preferences are then used to generate helpful suggestions when the limit is exceeded.

This project uses AI

I used AI for some UI and README.

Demo Repository

README

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Avik Rathi
Avik Rathi shipped Shorts Stopper
1 day ago

Shipped this project!

I completed the next version of Shorts Stopper. I added a timer that shows time remaining. It also turns red when less than a minute is left. I hope this gets approved for caffeinated.

Avik Rathi
Avik Rathi worked on Shorts Stopper
5 days ago
7h 14m logged

Changes -

Changes -
Today I was quite free so i managed to do a lot of stuff. I added a timer that shows the time left. I added the manifest.json file to make this usable. There were a hella lot of bugs fixing which took a lot of time. Now the extension works and is functional though very untidy. Next i will work on the CSS and UI of the whole thing. I watched shorts for sometime and then the page blocks. even opening a new page won’t allow you to watch shorts. However you can still hear the sound of the background short which is fine I guess. Now the user can reload the extension to reset the limit which makes it “passable”. So i hope the user has some willpower or he doesn’t read this. Now however i have changed that and reloading will do no good. I also added hover highlighting in interests.

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Comments

Ciklole
Ciklole 5 days ago

coooooool,

(Looks vibe coded….)

Avik Rathi
Avik Rathi shipped Shorts Stopper
10 days ago

Shipped this project!

Hours: 15.77
Cookies: 🍪 99
Multiplier: 6.27 cookies/hr

This is Shorts Stopper an extension to prevent you from watching shorts. The extension is useful for many who like me are addicted to shorts between their work. I have added a timer to show that the user has X time left and has to view anything important if he wants to. The timer resets every day after midnight. Also reloading the app doesn’t make it forget that the limit has already been reached. The user however must have enough willpower to not delete the extension. The extension can track usage on opening shorts on new tabs or reloading them. I am very proud of the secret “challenge” when you want to change the time limit. Through it I learned how to prevent pasting of content when you want to.

Avik Rathi
Avik Rathi worked on Shorts Stopper
10 days ago
2h 18m logged

Changes -

The project is ready for shipping. I worked on the UI and it looks real nice. The timer becomes red when one minute is left. And on refreshing or reload ing the extension the user still won’t ne able to view shorts. This extension only doesn’t allow viewing of YouTube Shorts. The UI looks clean and functions well. I also worked on something to prevent users from easily changing the limit. Try to find that. It is a challenge.

Ready For Shipping!!!!

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Comments

Pepino
Pepino 10 days ago

Looks cool man. Should defo make a mobile ap version since most people watch on their phone

Avik Rathi
Avik Rathi worked on Shorts Stopper
10 days ago
7h 44m logged

Changes -

Today I was quite free so i managed to do a lot of stuff. I added a timer that shows the time left. I added the manifest.json file to make this usable. There were a hella lot of bugs fixing which took a lot of time. Now the extension works and is functional though very untidy. Next i will work on the CSS and UI of the whole thing. I watched shorts for sometime and then the page blocks. even opening a new page won’t allow you to watch shorts. However you can still hear the sound of the background short which is fine I guess. Now the user can reload the extension to reset the limit which makes it “passable”. So i hope the user has some willpower or he doesn’t read this.

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Avik Rathi
Avik Rathi worked on Shorts Stopper
12 days ago
3h 4m logged

Changes -

I made the setup page. I also added code to select and allow multiple choice. The submit button now stores the info in chrome. I also did work on JS. Now it can fetch selected time limit and measure time spent on shorts. It also compares them to find the value of time spent on shorts. I used setInterval for this. For now JS can only do the time counting and comparision. It also displays message when limit reached.

PS(PostScript) :

I didn’t attach photo of JS because it is a seperate file and I am not supposed to “Show your project’s output, not your code editor. Screenshots of code (e.g. VS Code) won’t be accepted — your repo is already linked! Upload a screenshot or video of what your project actually does.”

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Avik Rathi
Avik Rathi worked on Shorts Stopper
13 days ago
2h 37m logged

Changes -

I made the first setup page for the extension. I have added basic Ui for now to represent the button which is clicked. I also added the code to switch highlight on pressing any other time buttons. I have also added the code to save the time limit in the browser and also to get it on reopening which happens in the “No limit Yet” part. Although the memory part won’t work in this browser version only in the extension version. the confirm button sends the saved time limit info.

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