LibreTube

LibreTube is a free, open-source Android app that lets you watch YouTube videos without being tracked by Google. Instead of connecting to YouTube's servers directly, the app routes requests through Piped, a privacy-focused proxy service that sits between your phone and YouTube. This means Google never sees your IP address or viewing behavior during normal use. The app does not show ads and does not send your activity to Google's data collection systems.

The feature list covers the basics you would expect from a YouTube client: subscriptions, playlists, watch history, search, and downloads. Background playback lets videos keep playing when you switch to another app. There are also integrations with three community tools: SponsorBlock, which automatically skips sponsored segments inside videos; ReturnYouTubeDislike, which restores the dislike count that YouTube removed; and DeArrow, which replaces clickbait titles and thumbnails with more accurate alternatives submitted by other users. Optional account support lets you sync subscriptions with a Piped account, which also works on desktop.

The README notes a comparison with NewPipe, another popular privacy-focused YouTube client for Android. The key difference is that LibreTube routes traffic through Piped by default for stronger privacy, while NewPipe fetches from YouTube directly. NewPipe also supports other platforms like SoundCloud and PeerTube, whereas LibreTube is YouTube-only.

The app is available through F-Droid and IzzyOnDroid, two app stores for free and open-source Android software, as well as direct download from GitHub releases. It is not on the Google Play Store. The project is written in Kotlin and accepts contributions including translations, which are managed through the Weblate platform. The license is GNU GPL version 3.