In November 2021, YouTube started to retire the dislike count on videos. If you still want to view the YouTube dislike counts, here are 3 methods that you can use to bring back YouTube disklike counts on any device including iPhone or Android devices.
Return YouTube Dislike Extension
The easiest way to display dislike counts is to use a browser extension called Return YouTube Dislike. It supports Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, and Brave desktop browser. If you want to view dislike counts on mobile devices, keep reading.
Once installed, you will see the YouTube dislike count as ever before. When you hover over the “like and dislike” section, it will show you the exact number of dislikes and likes instead of the general “3k”.
To install this extension, you can search for “Return YouTube Dislike” in the Chrome Web Store. On its official website, it also offers a userscript. If this extension is available for your browser, you can use the Tampermonkey extension and load this script. In addition, you can add more Tampermoneky scripts to ease your life.
Check YouTube Dislike Counts on iOS
The Return YouTube Dislike extension is also available for jailbroken iPhones, but I haven’t tested it. Moreover, I don’t recommend you jailbreak your iOS device for this. To view dislike counts on YouTube, you can simply use a custom shortcut.
Shortcut Method
If you don’t want to install apps outside of AppStore on iPhone through ipa files, then you can use Safari + Shortcuts to view YouTube dislikes count. Just click the button below to get the shortcut and run it from Safari.
On a YouTube video page in Safari, tap the Share button (Safari share button, not YouTube share) and select this shortcut from share sheet. Then go back to Safari and you will see the dislike counts. When you go to another YouTube page, the dislike count is still available.
It should also work on Mac if you watch Youtube videos with Safari. However, if you close Safari, you need to run this shortcut again to get YouTube dislike count back.
Extension Method
In addition, you can also use an extension for Safari on iPhone to check dislike counts. As mentioned, there is a Userscript that can display YouTube dislike count. Luckily, you can also use that script on iPhone or iPad. Let me show you step by step.
Step 1. Download and install a Safari extension called Stay from AppStore.
Step 2. Open Stay and tap the Plus icon to add a new script On Greasy Fork. If you have the URL to the Return YouTube Dislike script, you can Add Userscript from the link.
Step 3. On the Greasy Fork website, search for Return YouTube Dislike script and install it.
Step 4. Open Safari and tap the AA icon and make sure the Stay extension is enabled.
Now you can reload a YouTube video page and you will be able to see dislike count. You can also refer to the video below to see how to set it up.
Bring Back YouTbe Disklike on Android
A few days ago, you can use YouTube public API to view dislike counts. During that time, Android users can use the YouTube Vanced app to see YouTube dislike counts. In case you don’t know, YouTube Vanced is a free YouTube client that allows you to watch YouTube videos with ads and enjoy background playback.
Now, YouTube Vanced has officially been discontinued. If you have it installed on your Android phone, you can still use it for a while before it completely nonfunctional. In the meantime, Android users can use the Return YouTube DIslike extension. Here is how:
Step 1. Download the Kivi browser from Google Play Store.
Step 2. Within the app, click on the three-dot icon on the top right corner and select Extensions.
Step 3. Click “+(from store)” to go to Chrome Web Store. From there search for the Return YouTube Dislike extension.
Step 4. When the extension is actively installed, you can now view YouTube video dislike counts.
Besides the Kivi browser, there are a few other methods to install Chrome extensions on Android.
Conclusion
Usually, I will check the dislike count to decide if the video is worth watching. If you are like me, you can use any of these methods to view YouTube dislike counts. For me, I prefer using the Tampermonkey script method. Luckily, it is also possible to use Tampermonkey scripts on Android or iOS.