Ask HN: How do you disable YouTube's screensaver? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do you disable YouTube's screensaver?

5 pointshysan4 comments

Sometime this year, YouTube seems to have rolled out a feature that will play a screensaver in the YouTube app on your TV. This prevents the TV from showing its own screensaver and turning off (sleep). This wastes power, bandwidth, and money. I’m also worried that this will reduce the lifespan of my TV, and it also feels like an invasive ad meant to keep you on YouTube. I’ve found many people asking the same question but no solution. I’m asking here because there’s at least a chance that Googler will see this and have an explanation as to why this was implemented.

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Hook up a kill a watt to your TV and verify what you're saying.

> This wastes power,

negligble, 50-100W...

> bandwidth,

neglible. Streaming videos on youtube uses more bandwidth

> money

Again, neglible. If you keep YouTube screensaver on for 3 hours/day you're looking at $1-2/month

and money.

Hmm. 50-100W in Europe where electricity is often between 4 to 10 times of what is it is in the US this is a is BS comment.

That 50W-100W value in the UK for example will cost up to 220 GBP per year extra for a screensaver if it happens to keep a device on for 5 hours a day where the devices could have been switched off by the AppleTV power management, but can't because the this BS Screensaver prevents the AppleTV turning off.

There is a reason why Screensavers in Apps are against AppStore ToS.. Especially when they override the OS one and have ZERO user control.

You know there are a lot more people in the world outside the US, that have significantly higher living costs than in the US, that so called extra couple of bucks for you in the US, in the UK for example that is an extra 22 USD per month of waste by a feature you can't control and overrides settings you may have configured on your devices to save you money.

5 hours @ 75W @ 33 cents = less than 4 euro a month, which is still neglible.

Keep in mind that 5 hours average is a very long time to not be using your TV. Maybe we should change our habits and turn off our TV when not using it.

If we lower it to 1 hour it's only 9 euro a year.

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