NewPipe Is an Ad-Free, Privacy-Friendly YouTube App for Android.
The YouTube 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 YouTube alternative that is completely private and ad-free. We’ve talked about ways to watch YouTube videos without ads, and NewPipe is perhaps the best option for Android users.
Even better: NewPipe plays audio from videos in the background, making it ideal for multitasking. You can listen to music, podcasts, or YouTube video essays while doing household chores without having to keep the screen on. It also offers picture-in-picture mode so you can watch videos using another app, and downloads videos so you can watch them offline. To access these features in the app, you would otherwise need a paid YouTube Premium subscription.
There are several potential disadvantages. You can’t sign into your Google account, which means your subscriptions won’t be in the app. There is no algorithm either. This is inevitable for any app built with privacy in mind, but it’s worth thinking about.
The good news is that you can add subscriptions within the app, which will allow you to create a constant stream of videos from creators you trust. There’s also a bookmarking feature that lets you mark playlists or videos you want to watch later. In short, you’ll be able to be more proactive in choosing 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 log into Google Play – you’ll either need to install an .apk file from the website, which will require you to allow your device to install software from “unknown” sources. An alternative that will also make installing updates easier is to install NewPipe using F-Droid , a dedicated app store for open-source Android publishing.