Vinegar vs xEngine for Safari
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Vinegar
Enhance your YouTube viewing experience by replacing the default player with a streamlined HTML video tag. Enjoy ad-free playback, enable picture-in-picture, and listen to videos in the background with audio-only mode.
- Replaces YouTube player with HTML5
- Removes ads
- Restores picture-in-picture
- Background audio playback
- Minimal interface
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Vinegar is a Safari extension that replaces the YouTube player with a minimal HTML video tag. It removes ads, restores picture-in-picture, and allows videos to play in the background when set to audio-only quality. Note: The phrase 'can read and alter webpages' in the permissions section is just an unfortunate choice of words. Vinegar needs access to the webpage to find the YouTube player and replace it. It's not doing anything creepy! (Also, do check out Vinegar's companion app, Baking Soda. It's essentially a less powerful version of Vinegar, but it works on all websites except YouTube.)
xEngine for Safari
This utility app allows users to customize their default search engine within Safari. It supports a wide variety of popular and AI-powered search engines, and enables users to add their own custom options while prioritizing privacy through local processing.
- Customize Safari's default search engine
- Support for popular search engines
- Add custom AI search engines
- Local data processing for privacy
- Manage your own search engines
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xEngine — Customize Your Safari's Default Search Engine Tired of Safari's limited search options? xEngine gives you control. Switch between a wide range of search engines — or add your own, including AI engines like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity — all without sacrificing privacy. Key Features: - Choose from popular engines like Brave, Yandex, Startpage, ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and more - Add and manage your own custom search engines - Local processing only — xEngine never collects your data Simple. Private. Yours. Download xEngine and search the web your way.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Vinegar at 4.2 against xEngine for Safari's 3.3. Vinegar also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (755 vs 6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Vinegar costs $1.99 and xEngine for Safari $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Vinegar holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Vinegar has 755 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of Vinegar's written reviews are positive against 50% of xEngine for Safari's.
Vinegar ships an update every 3 days, xEngine for Safari every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Vinegar | xEngine for Safari |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | $1.99 |
| Rating | 4.2 (755 ratings) — better | 3.3 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 64.0% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 755 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #23 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | +4 |
| Developer | And a Dinosaur | 磊 汪 |
Customer experience
Vinegar
xEngine for Safari
Bugs and requests
Vinegar
Reported bugs
8 issues- Videos default to mute audio
- Doesn't work with AirPlay
- Playback issues when switching apps or rotating device
- Toolbar buttons not working
- Video player crashes when rotating device
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- Inconsistent video quality selection
- Doesn't update video history
- Doesn't remember playback speed settings
Requested features
9 requests- Add playback speed options
- Add support for chapters
- Add option to disable ad blocker
- Add option to disable extension on certain sites
- Add support for higher resolutions and HDR
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Add support for Chromecast
- Add keyboard shortcuts for navigation
- Add option to always start in theater mode
- Add option to default to highest available quality
xEngine for Safari
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Vinegar
No in-app purchases
xEngine for Safari
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Vinegar free?
Is xEngine for Safari free?
Which has better reviews, Vinegar or xEngine for Safari?
Do Vinegar or xEngine for Safari have ads?
Which is updated more often, Vinegar or xEngine for Safari?
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