One thing I’ve discussed lately is returning to a scrappier kind of cord cutting, which seeks to wrest some leverage away from increasingly consumer-hostile streaming services.
To that end, consider the computer. While you might not think of a laptop or desktop PC as the best place to watch TV, your computer has all kinds of powers that a streaming box does not, including tools that can skip commercials in ad-supported streaming services.
I’ve been playing with one such browser extension called Multi Skipper, which can automatically fast forward through ad breaks on sites like Hulu, Netflix, Pluto, and Peacock. It’s free, it’s easier to use than PlayOn’s streaming DVR software, and it mostly works, the main catch being the extra hoops you must jump through to watch on an actual television.
An ad-skipping streaming extension
Multi Skipper is a free browser extension that you can install through the Chrome Web Store. Naturally it works with the desktop Chrome browser, but it also supports other Chromium-based browsers such as Microsoft Edge, Vivaldi, Brave, and Opera.
When you install the extension, you’ll see a note that it can view and change your data on several websites, namely those of major streaming providers. Outside of those sites, the extension can’t access your browsing activity, and the developer claims that it does not sell or share users’ data.
From this same permissions prompt, we can see that Multi Skipper supports the following services: Adult Swim, Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll, Disney+, Hulu, Max, Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock, Pluto TV, and Tubi.
Once installed, Multi Skipper will appear in your browser’s Extensions menu, and you can click the extension’s icon to bring up a set of options. In addition to skipping through commercials, the extension also skips intros and recaps by default.
Does it work?
I tested Multi Skipper with the ad-supported versions of Netflix, Hulu, and Peacock, along with the free streaming services Pluto, Tubi, and Crunchyroll. Instead of blocking ads outright, the extension appears to accelerate through the commercial breaks, like a DVR on auto-pilot.
When a commercial break comes up, you might see a brief stutter in the video, images of different ads flashing across the screen, or a countdown timer indicating when the program will resume. At most, those interruptions last for a few seconds instead of minutes, but in most cases Multi Skipper jumped through ads almost instantly.
Occasionally I’d run into a glitch in the ad-skipping, where the video would continue fast forwarding for a few seconds after the commercial break ended. I also encountered a playback error on Hulu that required me to reload the video. Most of the time, though, the extension worked without issue.
Desktop browser required
Jared Newman / Foundry
The biggest drawback with Multi Skipper is that it’s only available on desktop web browsers. You can’t access it on your phone, tablet, smart TV, or streaming player, so if you want to skip through ads on a television, you’ll need to send the video to your TV from a laptop or desktop computer.
One way to do that is by mirroring your computer’s screen to a Chromecast, Android TV, or Google TV device: Right-click the video in Chrome, select “Cast,” then select “Cast screen” from the “Sources” drop-down menu before choosing your TV from the device list. Just be aware this can drain laptop battery life, and video may be choppier than it appears on the computer itself.
Plugging your computer into the TV with an HDMI cable also works. Or, if you’re all-in on controlling your streaming destiny, you could always buy an inexpensive mini-PC and couch-friendly keyboard to use instead of a streaming box.
None of these options are ideal, but then neither is having to sit through an increasing amount of commercial breaks for the same price as what ad-free streaming used to cost. I’ve been a cord cutter long enough to remember this exact setup—plugging my laptop into a TV to access free Hulu before the subscription version even existed—and it’s high time to bring that mentality back now that streaming services have made their heel turn. Multi Skipper is one way to do just that.
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