YouTube’s Android app is cluttered, slow, and full of ads. Even worse: It tracks every video you watch. NewPipe is a free and open source Android alternative interface for YouTube that’s fully private and doesn’t show ads. We’ve talked about ways to watch ad-free YouTube videos, and NewPipe is arguably the best one for Android users.
Even better: NewPipe plays the audio from videos in the background, making it perfect for multitasking. You can listen to music, podcasts, or video essays on YouTube while doing chores, all without the need to keep the screen on. It also offers picture-in-picture mode, so you can watch videos while using another app, and downloads videos so you can watch them offline. These are features you’d otherwise need a paid YouTube Premium subscription for to get in an app.
Credit: Justin Pot
There are a few potential downsides. You can’t sign into your Google account, meaning your subscriptions won’t be in the application. There also isn’t an algorithm. This is inevitable for any app built around privacy but is worth thinking about.
The good news is that you can add subscriptions inside the application, allowing you to build a steady stream of videos from creators you trust. There’s also a bookmarking feature, allowing you to mark playlists or videos you’d like to watch later. In short, you’re going to have the opportunity to be a little more proactive about which videos you want to watch. There is support for exporting and importing your subscriptions and playlists, which is useful when switching devices.
Another potential downside is that you can’t get in Google Play—you’ll need to either install the .apk file from the website, which is going to require that you allow your device to install software from “unknown” sources. An alternative, which would also make installing updates easier, is to install NewPipe using F-Droid , which is a dedicated app store for open source Android publications.
