aleixrodriala/newtube

What it is

NewTube is an unofficial YouTube client for Android phones and tablets. It reuses SmartTube's engine for talking to YouTube, account sign-in, SponsorBlock, DeArrow and Return YouTube Dislike, and adds its own touch-first Material Design interface, an androidx Media3 player and offline saving. It targets people who want a YouTube app with background playback, picture-in-picture and no Shorts on a phone, without patching the official app or installing microG/GmsCore.

Sign-in follows the TV code flow: NewTube displays a code, opens Google's own page for the account choice, and then completes sign-in. The password is entered only on Google's page, and the token is stored locally.

Install and first run

Requirements: Android 7.0 or newer, and an ARM or x86 APK matching the device. NewTube uses its own package name, so it can sit next to SmartTube or the YouTube app.

1. Download an APK from the latest release: arm64-v8a for most phones of the last several years, armeabi-v7a for older 32-bit phones, universal if unsure, x86 for older x86 devices and emulators.
2. Optionally verify the file against the signing certificate fingerprint and the per-file SHA-256 in the release notes, as described in the download instructions. From 1.10.3 the APKs are built by GitHub Actions from the tagged source.
3. Install the APK, open the app, go to the You tab, tap the account row and choose Sign in. NewTube shows a short code; tap Continue with Google, pick the account and allow access on Google's page, then return to the app. Sign-in is optional.
4. Play a video to confirm background playback, the mini-player and gesture controls work. To keep a video offline, use the save option and choose a quality up to 1080p or audio only.

For updates, obtain the next APK from the same release page, or add https://github.com/aleixrodriala/newtube in Obtainium; the app also checks for new versions itself.

Constraints

• The app is distributed on GitHub, not Google Play. Its signing key differs from SmartTube's, so the two cannot update each other.
• Offline saving, playback quality (up to 4K where supported, 1080p by default), codec choice and PiP availability depend on the device and Android version; PiP needs Android 8 or later.
• Chromecast playback from the phone does not support live streams or subtitles.
• YouTube may refuse some videos or accounts; the app retries other routes but cannot guarantee every video.
• The phone interface is translated only into English and Spanish so far, while inherited SmartTube strings exist in about 45 languages; translations go through Weblate.
• Builds are not yet reproducible. The project states the app has no analytics, crash reporting or ad SDKs, and that it contacts YouTube, user-switchable community services and GitHub.
• Licensed MIT. The maintainer says most of the phone-specific code was written with AI coding assistants and reviewed by them.

HotRepo's take

The project's own framing is the most useful signal: it positions itself as a phone counterpart to SmartTube, whose README says a phone version is not planned, and it credits SmartTube for the engine, accounts and integrations. The recorded performance numbers are narrow — Pixel 9 medians from two days in September 2026, with small samples, later versions not re-timed, and a changed startup flow in 1.12.0 — so they describe one measurement setup rather than a general speed claim. In the 2026-11-11 Java daily ranking it reached 11th with 22 stars gained and 732 total stars, a single snapshot that does not establish a trend. On the discussion side, a Show HN thread drew a commenter who said NewTube had replaced SmartTube for them on 2026-10-19, which speaks to user interest in a phone build rather than to quality.