DeArrow

YouTube tweak that brings community-submitted titles and thumbnails to YouTube for iOS.

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Features

• Replace eligible titles with community-submitted DeArrow alternatives
• Replace eligible thumbnails through the dedicated DeArrow thumbnail service
• Apply branding across feeds, search, related videos, playlists, channel listings, playback, and Shorts
• Preserve YouTube branding when a response is unavailable, invalid, or stale
• Configure title and thumbnail behavior from a native YouTube settings page
• Support rootless ElleKit packages and sideloaded YouTube injection

Compatibility

Installation

Install the rootless package from a compatible package manager, or inject DeArrow.dylib into a sideloaded YouTube build. Restart YouTube after installation.

Building

Install Theos, clone YouTubeHeader into $THEOS/include/YouTubeHeader, and run:

gmake package FINALPACKAGE=1

The package is written to packages/.

Testing

Run the deterministic fixture and architecture checks with:

gmake test
gmake verify-architecture
go run ./scripts/branding-smoke

The read-only SE diagnostic harness records package versions, process state, crash reports, and a screenshot without changing app data:

go run ./scripts/dearrow-tools device-debug 00008030-001624583AF9402E ./test-artifacts/device-debug

For simulator work, set DEARROW_SIMULATOR_ID and optionally DEARROW_SIMULATOR_DYLIB, DEARROW_CYDIASUBSTRATE, DEARROW_SIMSLIM_BIN, and DEARROW_SIMFORGE_BIN, then run go run ./scripts/dearrow-tools simulator-debug. The settings loop is available as simulator-settings-regression; it writes all screenshots, OCR, logs, and memory artifacts to test-artifacts/. To use a sideloaded app without replacing an already-installed signed-in copy, run go run ./scripts/dearrow-tools simulator-sideload-debug SIMULATOR APP_PATH.

Privacy and network behavior

DeArrow does not intercept YouTube networking or collect telemetry. It contacts the public DeArrow and SponsorBlock branding services by video ID, caches successful and negative responses, and silently keeps YouTube’s original title or thumbnail when a request fails.

Attribution

This project is a maintained fork of pixelomer/DeArrow-iOS. Community branding data is provided by DeArrow and SponsorBlock.

Contributors