SimpMusic: A YouTube Music Client That Borrows from Spotify, SponsorBlock, and More
Project brief: A cross-platform music app using YouTube Music for backend. Use Spotify Web API and some tricks to get Spotify Canvas and Lyrics Thanks to InnerTune for the idea to get data from YouTube Music.
At a glance
- What is it?
- SimpMusic is a cross-platform Kotlin app that streams from YouTube Music and layers on Spotify Canvas, lyrics, SponsorBlock, and ReturnYouTubeDislike. It is beta software with real limitations, but its feature set is unusually broad for a FOSS music player.
- Who is it for?
- Adopt SimpMusic if you want a free, ad-free YouTube Music client with extra features like Spotify Canvas and SponsorBlock, and you accept beta-level stability and the risk of YouTube breaking things. Do not adopt it if you need a stable, production-grade player or if you rely on official APIs.
- Can I use it commercially?
- Yes, with conditions. GPL-3.0 is a copyleft licence: if you distribute software that includes it, you must release that software's source code under the same licence. Running it internally without distributing it does not trigger that obligation.
- Is it still maintained?
- Yes. The repository last received commits 1 day ago.
- What is it written in?
- Mainly Kotlin, according to GitHub's language statistics.
Answers come from the project's GitHub data, last synced on September 15, 2026, and from our analysis. They are not legal advice.
DEEP OPEN-SOURCE ANALYSIS
What SimpMusic Solves and Who It Is For
SimpMusic targets people who want to listen to YouTube Music without the official app's ads, background playback restrictions, or subscription requirement. It is a free and open-source client for Android and Desktop, built with Compose Multiplatform. The README positions it as a FOSS alternative that pulls in features from Spotify, SponsorBlock, and ReturnYouTubeDislike. The intended user is someone who already lives inside YouTube's music catalog but wants a player that feels more like a modern streaming app. That means a user who wants lyrics, Canvas visuals, equalizer presets, and listening analytics without paying for YouTube Music Premium. It is also for tinkerers who accept that the app is in beta and may crash. The README explicitly warns: "This app is in the beta stage, so it may have many bugs and make it crash." So this is not a tool for someone who needs a dependable daily driver out of the box.
The Mechanism: Hidden APIs, Scraping, and Third-Party Services
SimpMusic does not use an official YouTube Music API. Instead, it relies on a hidden API and "some tricks" to get data, as the README states. It credits InnerTune for the idea and SmartTube for help extracting streaming URLs. The core service is a Kotlin module called kotlinYtmusicScraper, which appears to handle the scraping logic. For Spotify features, SimpMusic uses the Spotify Web API to fetch Canvas and lyrics, though lyrics require login for Spotify. SponsorBlock is integrated to skip sponsored segments in YouTube videos, and ReturnYouTubeDislike provides dislike counts. The app also supports synced lyrics from SimpMusic Lyrics, LRCLIB, and YouTube Transcript, with optional AI translation using an OpenAI or Gemini API key. The data flow is a mix of direct scraping, third-party APIs, and user-supplied keys. That means the app's behavior depends on several external services, each of which can change or break independently.
Getting It Running: Downloads, Installers, and Desktop Specifics
The README provides clear download paths. For Android, you can get SimpMusic from F-Droid, IzzyOnDroid, OpenAPK, or GitHub releases. There is also a nightly build page at simpmusic.org. For Desktop, the instructions are specific: on Windows, download the .msix package and run install.bat; on macOS, use the .dmg file; on Linux, use the .AppImage for all distributions. There is a login guide for the desktop app on the official site. The README notes two desktop limitations: some Linux distributions may have stability issues due to an upstream JetBrains problem, and ARM64 on Windows and Linux should use the x64 build. That last point is a real constraint, not a minor caveat. If you are on an ARM64 Windows machine, you are told to run the x64 build, which may imply emulation or compatibility overhead.
Feature Depth: From Canvas to Wrapped and Listen Together
The feature list is long, and some features are new in recent releases. Version 2.0.0, pushed on 2026-08-28, added the Apple Music-style Now Playing, a ten-band equalizer with AutoEq headphone profiles, SimpMusic Wrapped with monthly recap playlists, on-device listening analytics, word-by-word lyrics with romanization, home screen widgets, and Listen Together shared rooms compatible with Metrolist. That is a substantial update. The app also supports 256kbps streams for YouTube Music Premium users, which is a differentiator: the quality tier depends on a paid YouTube subscription. There is a SimpMusic Chart service at chart.simpmusic.org, and the app can play 1080p video with subtitles. For power users, there is Last.fm scrobbling in the Full version, Discord Rich Presence, Android Auto, and a sleep timer. The breadth is impressive, but it also means more surface area for bugs, which the beta warning already acknowledges.
The Real Limitations: Beta Stability, Lyrics Matching, and Privacy Split
The most obvious limitation is stability. The README says player errors are normal because the app depends on YouTube Music, and asks users not to ask about a stable state. That is a direct statement that this is not a polished product. Another limitation is lyrics accuracy. The FAQ explains that lyrics are sourced from LRCLIB and other providers, and matching is done via string and duration heuristics. Sometimes the wrong lyrics appear for a song. That is a genuine failure mode, not a hypothetical. There is also a privacy split: the FOSS version has no tracker or third-party server, but the Full version uses Sentry for crash reporting. If you want no data collection, you must choose the FOSS build. The "Send back to Google" feature, which sends listening history to Google, is optional and only for logged-in users. So the app gives you control, but you have to read carefully to know which version does what.
The Wrong Tool for Some, and a Real Alternative
SimpMusic is the wrong tool if you need a guaranteed-stable player, if you cannot tolerate occasional wrong lyrics, or if you want to avoid any dependence on YouTube's hidden APIs. It is also not ideal for users who want a fully offline experience without any network calls, though it does support caching and offline playback. A real alternative is InnerTune, which the README credits as the inspiration for the YouTube Music data approach. InnerTune is also a FOSS YouTube Music client, but it is Android-only and does not have the same breadth of Spotify integration or desktop support. The key difference is scope: InnerTune focuses on the core streaming experience, while SimpMusic layers on Canvas, lyrics, SponsorBlock, and analytics. If you want a simpler, more focused client, InnerTune may be a better fit. If you want the extra features, SimpMusic is the one to try, with the understanding that more features mean more moving parts.
Maintenance and Upgrade Cost, and License Implications
The project is under active development, with three releases in two months: v1.6.0 in July, v1.7.0 in early August, and v2.0.0 in late August 2026. The default branch is dev, and contributions require starting from an issue and branching from dev, which suggests a controlled workflow. The license is GPL-3.0, which means any derivative work must also be open source under the same license. That is a consideration if you plan to embed or modify the code for a commercial product. The maintenance cost for users is moderate: you will need to update frequently to keep up with YouTube's changes, and you may encounter regressions between versions. The README does not provide a migration guide or upgrade notes, so you should check the release notes on GitHub before updating. The desktop app's Linux stability issues are an upstream JetBrains problem, so fixes depend on another project's timeline.
Editorial conclusion
Adopt SimpMusic if you want a free, ad-free YouTube Music client with extra features like Spotify Canvas and SponsorBlock, and you accept beta-level stability and the risk of YouTube breaking things. Do not adopt it if you need a stable, production-grade player or if you rely on official APIs. Before committing, verify which version you need: the FOSS build has no crash reporting, while the Full version uses Sentry. Also check the desktop limitations on Linux and ARM64. If you are on Android, confirm that your device supports the required Android Auto and widget features. The project is actively developed, with releases in July and August 2026, so check the latest release notes for current status.
Community notes