I dropped it after the devs response was to be silent about what actually happened “to focus on the f-froid builds”. It’s still unclear, and because of the way they’ve set up the GitHub repo, it’s still possible for the apk to be compromised.
can it block ads?
It blocks ads and promotional segments by default
Yes
then i’m sold.
SmartTube is a free and open-source YouTube client for Android TV and TV boxes. It removes ads, supports SponsorBlock, works without Google Services, and is designed for large screens and remote controls.
Note: the developer recently disclosed a build environment compromise and has since rotated keys, rebuilt the environment, and added additional verification steps. Users should update to the latest version and verify sources. GitHub: https://github.com/yuliskov/SmartTube
Be careful!
Author made an announcement that Smartube may be compromised.
Read his notes.
the author also announced a workaround to get a clean copy
I don’t know people have heard of Odysee. Good alternative for YouTube
I’ve been using it on my Amazon firetv stick, and I’m loving it. I first tried it because I cannot use revanced on the fire stick, but it’s actually pretty good.
Also, you can link it to your official YouTube app and control it from your phone
What’s the difference between this and FreeTube?
It works great!
You just can’t save local playlists like with newpipe so that I can’t save anything on my TV
I used to use SmartTube before using yt-dlp and Jellyfin which was maybe 2 years ago.
Have SmartTube removed the direct connection youtube.com for subscriptions?
No, but as a result of behaving like the official client it is more robust than yt-dlp or Freetube when Google does crackdowns on third party clients. It’s a tradeoff of privacy v robustness, but it still has no ads and sponsorblock. It’s a way more acceptable option for normies and works well on GoogleTV (which is going to be spying on what you’re watching and phoning that home to Google anyway).
