Just like the title says; I’m interested in being able to sleep to YouTube without ads, but I don’t fuck with their business practices and they don’t deserve my money. Unfortunately, I’m also a very inexperienced pirate and I’m unsure where to look.
Edit: for clarity I’m using a OnePlus 7 Pro with earbuds
Ignore ReVanced, go for LibreTube. It uses Piped in the backend to access YouTube, and it’s got a really nice user interface on Android.
It also automatically blocks ads, skips sponsored segments, supports downloads, PiP, background playing, subscriptions, comments, live videos.
It doesn’t rely on shady alternative G services running in the background, doesn’t need you to modify any official APKs, it’s open source, and you can customize elements you want or do not want to see from YouTube. Give it a go.
EDIT: And here are some bonuses it’s got over alternatives: customizable sleep timers, channel groups, subscriptions synced automatically with your desktop browser (via Piped), the ability to proxy and reroute your traffic to YouTube, full Shorts support, live comments for broadcasts.
The problem is that LibreTube, NewPipe and others do not login or sync with your account. I really miss being able to save a video to my watch later playlist on my desktop, and later on watch it on my phone and it’ll be marked as watched everywhere
With LibreTube that’s only partially true. It doesn’t sync with YouTube, but LibreTube on Android will sync with your favorite Piped instance on desktop, so if you also browse YouTube on desktop using Piped, you’ll get that experience of a synced subscriptions list. You can use Google Takeout to easily migrate from the main YouTube to Piped with all your subscriptions active.
With NewPipe you’re correct - there’s no sync. You can import from Google, but there’s no mechanism to sync with a desktop version.
Would be nice if I could sync my browsing history in a way that what I watch on desktop using my Piped account gets all merged, in a secure and private way of course.
This. Unlike ReVanced that requires a bunch of hacks* to work, Newpipe is easy to simply download and install.
Has all the features premium youtube has, and unlike Vanced, it uses Youtube’s API to serve the content, which means Google can’t shut them down (They tried, and lost the case).
Because Newpipe simply doesn’t use the advertisement API, you’ll never* see ads in Newpipe.
HOWEVER.
Please keep in mind Newpipe is currently in spaghetti code form, and that means fixing a bug causes more to appear.
They’re working on a complete rewrite, aka Newpipe 2, but it’ll take a while.
In the meantime, you may encounter some issues if you’re on the road for example.
I’ve had Newpipe shit itself almost always while biking, due to constant mobile connection tower changes.
For those errors you need to open the app up again, and press play.
It unfortunately doesn’t respond to bluetooth play/stop signals in that state.
When vanced went dark I downloaded a bunch to try. Libretube, newpipe, clipious, and pipepipe.
Mostly I’ve been using pipepipe. A fork of newpipe. It has seemed faster and less buggy from the start. It opens invidious links. It just seems to work better.
While libretube has the best import/export options (it can import playlists and bookmarks etc) it can be incredibly buggy and clunky.
Grab something like Neo-Store for easier FDroid app management. Comes with a bunch of useful repositories included like Bitwarden, Newpipe.
Also more user friendly interface.
Install the fdroid app from their official website, then download newpipe from fdroid. This way the app will automatically update whenever needed through fdroid app store.
What issues do you have with ReVanced? It works great! The only thing that’s kind of a pain in the ass is that if you’re rooted using KernelSU, you have to repatch the app every time you reboot. Fortunately I usually only reboot once a month when the new OTA gets released for my phone.
I’ve had issues that I’ve been able to work around.
I have previously had the error, “settings could not be applied”, which I worked around by uninstalling my YouTube updates, installing the recommended version and clearing revanced manager data. I now get an error about not being able to load the original APK. I work around this by deleting the two apks in /data/abd/vanced before patching.
I’m rooted and have to repatch on each reboot. Not complaining, just want to share my experience in case it helps others.
I love revanced, and feel so thankful for it. I can’t afford YT premium, without revanced I would miss out on so much great content.
they’ll just sue or dmca the developers again
or just keep breaking the app, like they’re doing right now. (issues are usually resolved in less then 4 days though)
also if they already have you addicted to YouTube it’s much more beneficial to force you off revanced back into official app rather then banning hundeds of thouthands of channels.
Have you tried Revanced Manager? I’m not rooted and can pretty much just download the proper version from apkmirror, select it from storage, and run the patch and then install it.
it’s available through f-droid on android devices. I won’t recommend just downloading from their website because it gets updated frequently as some youtube updates break their scraper.
If you are just listening to music “InnerTune” might be for you. Uses music.youtube.com in the back, without ads and able to run in the background. Available on F-Droid
NewPipe has the nicer layout for sure, but you have to use a fork for SponsorBlock, which means its behind on other fixes, most notably some audio track issues.
I use songtube
It is open source, you can download the videos or just the music, listen with the screen off, it is also a music player and it is more eye candy than newpipe.
Just use Revanced or Revanced Extanded. If you rooted like me (OnePlus 7 Pro + Crdroid 9.5 + Magisk & LSPosed) just use the magisk module, it work great but on my brother phone (not rooted) he use it with the MicroG without problem but you need to disable the official youtube app if you don’t want dupe app
I strongly caution anyone from downloading or even visiting either of those links. They are not official and set up by third-parties, who could be doing it for various malicious reasons.
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Ignore ReVanced, go for LibreTube. It uses Piped in the backend to access YouTube, and it’s got a really nice user interface on Android.
It also automatically blocks ads, skips sponsored segments, supports downloads, PiP, background playing, subscriptions, comments, live videos.
It doesn’t rely on shady alternative G services running in the background, doesn’t need you to modify any official APKs, it’s open source, and you can customize elements you want or do not want to see from YouTube. Give it a go.
EDIT: And here are some bonuses it’s got over alternatives: customizable sleep timers, channel groups, subscriptions synced automatically with your desktop browser (via Piped), the ability to proxy and reroute your traffic to YouTube, full Shorts support, live comments for broadcasts.
How does LibreTube respond to fast-paced mobile connection changes?
I’m not sure, but one workaround is to download the video ahead of time when you have a solid connection.
That’s perfect! This is probably the one I’ll go with. You’ve been a big help my friend :)
The problem is that LibreTube, NewPipe and others do not login or sync with your account. I really miss being able to save a video to my watch later playlist on my desktop, and later on watch it on my phone and it’ll be marked as watched everywhere
Agreed. I need the youtube recommendations
If you need account specific recommendations and subscriptions, you should give Youtube Revanced a go.
With LibreTube that’s only partially true. It doesn’t sync with YouTube, but LibreTube on Android will sync with your favorite Piped instance on desktop, so if you also browse YouTube on desktop using Piped, you’ll get that experience of a synced subscriptions list. You can use Google Takeout to easily migrate from the main YouTube to Piped with all your subscriptions active.
With NewPipe you’re correct - there’s no sync. You can import from Google, but there’s no mechanism to sync with a desktop version.
Why ignore ReVanced?
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One thing I’ll mention for those like me that use the feature regularly, you can’t cast natively from LibreTube.
Would be nice if I could sync my browsing history in a way that what I watch on desktop using my Piped account gets all merged, in a secure and private way of course.
Revanced on mobile phone, Smart tube next on TV.
I use revanced, but it does seem like libretube is better
On android you can do Youtube ReVanced.
ReVanced. Old Vanced is dead. Amd only use the ReVanced Manager from their Github.
F***ing autocorrect
I’ll see if I can find that; thank you my friend :)
If on Android, NewPipe is a great app. Blocks all ads and let’s you create playlists and stuff.
Firefox mobile with Ublock add-on installed is good too.
This. Unlike ReVanced that requires a bunch of hacks* to work, Newpipe is easy to simply download and install.
Has all the features premium youtube has, and unlike Vanced, it uses Youtube’s API to serve the content, which means Google can’t shut them down (They tried, and lost the case).
Because Newpipe simply doesn’t use the advertisement API, you’ll never* see ads in Newpipe.
HOWEVER. Please keep in mind Newpipe is currently in spaghetti code form, and that means fixing a bug causes more to appear. They’re working on a complete rewrite, aka Newpipe 2, but it’ll take a while. In the meantime, you may encounter some issues if you’re on the road for example.
I’ve had Newpipe shit itself almost always while biking, due to constant mobile connection tower changes. For those errors you need to open the app up again, and press play. It unfortunately doesn’t respond to bluetooth play/stop signals in that state.
Is Newpipe available for iPhones? Can’t seem to find it in the App Store…
Brave browser eliminates the ads on iOS.
The “Vinegar” app for iOS blocks youtube ads as well as adding various playback improvements.
https://apps.apple.com/au/app/vinegar-tube-cleaner/id1591303229
No, and it’s not available on the official Play app store for Android either.
You can install it via APK or the F-Droid open source appstore. I haven’t found anything to replace it on iPhone at all.
https://newpipe.net/
Damnit. Thank you.
If I remember right there’s an app named Yattee for iOS devices, but I don’t know how to install it. Maybe that could work?
When vanced went dark I downloaded a bunch to try. Libretube, newpipe, clipious, and pipepipe.
Mostly I’ve been using pipepipe. A fork of newpipe. It has seemed faster and less buggy from the start. It opens invidious links. It just seems to work better.
While libretube has the best import/export options (it can import playlists and bookmarks etc) it can be incredibly buggy and clunky.
Newpipe is also focused on privacy so they won’t support cast feature
How can we get Newpipe? Is it on the app store?
Grab something like Neo-Store for easier FDroid app management. Comes with a bunch of useful repositories included like Bitwarden, Newpipe. Also more user friendly interface.
https://github.com/NeoApplications/Neo-Store
Install the fdroid app from their official website, then download newpipe from fdroid. This way the app will automatically update whenever needed through fdroid app store.
Thanks for this.
Does Newpipe support YouTube music as well?
Yup
I use ViMusic for the music part
Thanks! I’ll check it out. YT announced a 40% price hike for me in December, so I’m looking for alternatives.
💀
ViMusic, and yep, I got it via F-droid
What issues do you have with ReVanced? It works great! The only thing that’s kind of a pain in the ass is that if you’re rooted using KernelSU, you have to repatch the app every time you reboot. Fortunately I usually only reboot once a month when the new OTA gets released for my phone.
I’ve had issues that I’ve been able to work around.
I have previously had the error, “settings could not be applied”, which I worked around by uninstalling my YouTube updates, installing the recommended version and clearing revanced manager data. I now get an error about not being able to load the original APK. I work around this by deleting the two apks in /data/abd/vanced before patching.
I’m rooted and have to repatch on each reboot. Not complaining, just want to share my experience in case it helps others.
I love revanced, and feel so thankful for it. I can’t afford YT premium, without revanced I would miss out on so much great content.
Sounds very much like my experience: a wonderful project, but not without its flaws that are kind of annoying, but not a big deal for the price. :)
revanced just works ™ though. everything aorks seamlessly and it allows yoi to get yt recommendations.
I’d rather not be on the receiving end of Google cracking down on ReVanced users. It’ll happen eventually.
they’ll just sue or dmca the developers again
or just keep breaking the app, like they’re doing right now. (issues are usually resolved in less then 4 days though)
also if they already have you addicted to YouTube it’s much more beneficial to force you off revanced back into official app rather then banning hundeds of thouthands of channels.
Have you tried Revanced Manager? I’m not rooted and can pretty much just download the proper version from apkmirror, select it from storage, and run the patch and then install it.
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Its v18. 25.40 with revanced extended now
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I second this, I’m not very good with tech but I figured out revanced in like 5 minutes and haven’t had any errors or issues.
The best thing is that you can turn off the screen, so you can truly use it as a music player.
the Firefox solution is the best, you can even have the floating vid thing
its even better than the main app, with no ads
A more privacy friendly alternative is Newpipe: no ads, background playing and theres a version with sponsorblock afaik if you would like that
That sounds sweet. Is it available on Android?
Yeah just get it from their github or their offical website so you wont get a clone
it’s available through f-droid on android devices. I won’t recommend just downloading from their website because it gets updated frequently as some youtube updates break their scraper.
Website
F-droid download link
What device are you wanting to play the music on?
I’ve got an Android phone. I use earbuds to listen to lore videos while I sleep
Try InnerTune or ViMusic
https://github.com/z-huang/InnerTune
https://github.com/vfsfitvnm/ViMusic
Oh man I can’t believe innertune finally got updated. Hell yeah.
Firefox plus ublock origin, then just open youtube.com
I’ll try this out
Firefox +unlock…
Does libretube, newpipe or revanced support screen casting?
If you are just listening to music “InnerTune” might be for you. Uses
music.youtube.comin the back, without ads and able to run in the background. Available on F-DroidI really like this fork of newpipe. It has sponsorblock and YouTube dislike built in
https://github.com/polymorphicshade/NewPipe
I use LibreTube: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.github.libretube/
But I heard that NewPipe is also very good: https://newpipe.net/
NewPipe has the nicer layout for sure, but you have to use a fork for SponsorBlock, which means its behind on other fixes, most notably some audio track issues.
Thanks for the links
I use songtube It is open source, you can download the videos or just the music, listen with the screen off, it is also a music player and it is more eye candy than newpipe.
Just use Revanced or Revanced Extanded. If you rooted like me (OnePlus 7 Pro + Crdroid 9.5 + Magisk & LSPosed) just use the magisk module, it work great but on my brother phone (not rooted) he use it with the MicroG without problem but you need to disable the official youtube app if you don’t want dupe app
Don’t click anything. Those are fake links.
This is the official revanced github and the website is:
https://revanced.app/
Edit: i see my comments weren’t updated and someone was waaay quicker than me. :)
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I strongly caution anyone from downloading or even visiting either of those links. They are not official and set up by third-parties, who could be doing it for various malicious reasons.
Revanced is here
Revanced extended is here
For both, you’ll also need Vanced MicroG installed.
XDA has a step-by-step guide.
You don’t need microg if you’re rooted.
That’s good advice, thanks for letting people know.