ShortVidsBlocker vs Swiftly Player
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ShortVidsBlocker
This tool helps you avoid distracting short-form video content on popular social platforms. It works by blocking these videos directly within your web browser, allowing for a more focused browsing experience.
- Block YouTube Shorts
- Block Instagram Reels
- Works in Safari
- Focus on content
- Browser extension
Read full descriptionHide full description
Allows the user to block short form videos from YouTube and Instagram in Safari
Swiftly Player
This app provides a seamless playback experience for your personal media server, ensuring content plays as intended without transcoding. It offers cross-device resume, offline downloads, and advanced playback controls.
- Direct playback without transcoding
- Cross-device playback resume
- Offline downloads of original files
- Picture-in-Picture mode
- Support for multiple servers
- Customizable home screen layout
- Skip Intro and Skip Credits
Read full descriptionHide full description
Swiftly plays the films on your Jellyfin server just as they are. Most apps have the server rebuild a film while you're watching. Swiftly leaves it alone — and tells you beforehand that it will. If something ever does have to be converted, you'll see which part of the file was responsible. Picture in Picture is built in, so a film can carry on in the corner while you get on with something else. RESUME ON THIS DEVICE Something playing on the Apple TV turns up as a button on your iPhone. One tap and it carries on here, at the second you left it. It works in every direction between iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV. SERVERS AND ACCOUNTS Add more than one Jellyfin, stay signed in to all of them, and switch from your profile without typing a password again. DOWNLOADS Take episodes and films with you. Swiftly downloads the original file, so what you watch offline is the same quality as what you stream. MORE • Request what your server doesn't have yet, through Seerr, without leaving the app • Skip Intro and Skip Credits, via the Jellyfin plugin • People pages: tap a name in the cast for a biography and everything of theirs you own • Your home screen in your order — rows off, rows moved, genres as rows or as chips • Custom headers per server, for Jellyfin behind Cloudflare Access, Authelia, Authentik or Pangolin • Collections and each library, straight from the Movies and Shows title • Sign in with a Quick Connect code instead of a password • Lock screen and headphone controls, plus background audio • Your audio and subtitle language, chosen once • Next episode on its own, sleep timer, playback speed • Watchlist, filters and search • English and German Swiftly brings no films of its own — it simply shows what's already on your server. And it collects nothing: no analytics, no advertising, no account with us. Your viewing position goes to your server and nowhere else. You'll need a Jellyfin server of your own, 10.8 or newer, on a secure (https) address, and an iPhone or iPad with iOS 18. Uses VLCKit and libVLC by VideoLAN under the LGPL 2.1 or later. Licenses and source code: https://swiftlyplayer.com/licenses/ SUPPORT - All features are free, for everyone. - Optional Supporter extras (app icons, accent colours, a heart in About): Monthly 1.99 EUR per month, or Lifetime 19.99 EUR once. Optional tips: 1.99, 4.99 or 9.99 EUR. Monthly Supporter is an auto-renewable subscription (1.99 EUR per month). Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in your Apple Account settings. Lifetime is a one-time purchase and lasts for as long as Swiftly Player exists, on all your devices. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://swiftlyplayer.com/privacy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ShortVidsBlocker at none against Swiftly Player's 5. ShortVidsBlocker also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). Swiftly Player's advantage is update cadence (every 6 days vs every 4 months). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. Swiftly Player sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. ShortVidsBlocker asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for ShortVidsBlocker against 5.0 for Swiftly Player. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 4 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
ShortVidsBlocker ships an update every 4 months, Swiftly Player every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ShortVidsBlocker | Swiftly Player |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 4 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 61 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Giuseppe Bertolini | Paul Herter |
Customer experience
ShortVidsBlocker
Swiftly Player
In-app purchases
ShortVidsBlocker
No in-app purchases
Swiftly Player
- Supporter$1.991 Month
- A coffee$1.99
- Coffee and cake$3.99
- A movie night$8.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Swiftly Supporter Lifetime$17.99
Questions
Is ShortVidsBlocker free?
Is Swiftly Player free?
Which has better reviews, ShortVidsBlocker or Swiftly Player?
Do ShortVidsBlocker or Swiftly Player have ads?
Which is updated more often, ShortVidsBlocker or Swiftly Player?
Other comparisons















