LibreTube: a GPL Android YouTube client that routes through an instance you choose and syncs through Piped

It fetches only the video you ask for, through an instance you select

LibreTube starts from a complaint about YouTube's privacy policy: Google stores a great deal of personal data, from music taste and content preferences to political opinions. The app's answer is to stay independent from Google and bypass its data collection as far as possible. In practice that means sending the minimum data needed for the app to function, such as loading only the video you chose to play, without tracking how you use the app.

The important detail is where those requests go. LibreTube works through an instance that you choose inside the app, and the project recommends reading both LibreTube's own privacy policy and the privacy policy of that instance. The consequence is that your privacy is split between two parties. The app can avoid tracking you, but the instance you pick has its own privacy policy and its own operator, so choosing one is a trust decision rather than a cosmetic setting. PRIVACY_POLICY.md in the repository details which data the app stores, how it is used, and how the project protects it.

Accounts and cross-device sync run through Piped, not a LibreTube server

Most of the library features work as a normal client would: subscriptions, subscription groups, user playlists, playlist bookmarks, watch and search history, downloads and background playback, all with no ads and no tracking. User accounts are optional and come from Piped, a separate open source project. Piped is also the example given for synchronizing your user data across devices, which is one of the points the project uses to set itself apart from NewPipe.

There is no first-party LibreTube sync server today; a TODO comment next to that sync claim mentions replacing it with one. For a user, that means sync is only as available as the Piped account and instance behind it. If you want your subscriptions on a phone and a tablet, you are depending on Piped. If you skip the account, you avoid that dependency but also give up syncing. Decide which way you want to go early, before you have built up groups and playlists on one device.

SponsorBlock, ReturnYouTubeDislike and DeArrow are outside services

Three integrations add things YouTube's own app does not offer. SponsorBlock skips sponsored segments inside videos. ReturnYouTubeDislike supplies dislike statistics. DeArrow provides better titles and thumbnails. LibreTube presents these as support for external APIs, and that wording matters: each is a separate service with its own operator, not part of LibreTube.

The benefit is real for anyone tired of clickbait thumbnails or long sponsor reads. The cost is that every integration you enable is one more party involved in what you watch. A user whose main reason for installing LibreTube is to limit who sees their viewing should look at which of the three they need, rather than turning all of them on by default. Because these services are outside the project, their availability and data accuracy are not something LibreTube controls.

YouTube is the only source, which is where NewPipe still wins

The project is direct about how it compares with NewPipe, the best-known alternative. LibreTube puts a much stronger focus on user experience, uses the Material 3 Expressive design language, supports SponsorBlock, ReturnYouTubeDislike and DeArrow, and can sync user data across devices through Piped.

NewPipe covers ground LibreTube does not. LibreTube supports content from YouTube only, while NewPipe also handles SoundCloud, PeerTube, Bandcamp and media.ccc.de. If you follow a podcast on SoundCloud or creators on a PeerTube instance, LibreTube cannot replace a multi-platform client, and you would need a second app for those sources. The project itself declines to name a winner; it calls both good clients for YouTube and suggests trying each. The practical split is clear enough: LibreTube for a polished YouTube-only experience with sync, NewPipe when you need several platforms in one place.

Four download channels, and the nightly is explicitly less stable

LibreTube is an Android app, and it is distributed through four channels. It is on F-Droid under the package name com.github.libretube, on the IzzyOnDroid repository with the same package name, as APKs on the GitHub latest release page, and as a nightly build under the nightly tag on GitHub. There is no install command to run; you add a repository in an F-Droid client or download an APK.

The channels differ in risk. Nightly builds carry features and fixes before the official release and are less stable than normal releases; the project says to use them at your own risk. The current nightly tag is titled LibreTube Nightly 02-11-2026. Stable releases v32.0 and v32.1 were both published on 2026-08-20, a few hours apart, so a same-day point release after a major one has happened before. The last push to master was on 2026-11-02. All four channels deliver Android packages; someone looking for an iOS or PC version will not find one among them.

Bug reports filed on Matrix, Mastodon or Lemmy do not reach the issue tracker

LibreTube has a Matrix room, a Fosstodon account and a community on feddit.rocks, but the project does not accept feature or bug requests on any of them. Requests go only to GitHub. The Matrix room is the main communication channel; the other forums and social media accounts are run by community volunteers, not by the developers.

That has a direct consequence if the app stops playing videos or misbehaves. Posting about it on Mastodon or in a Lemmy thread can get you help from other users, but it does not create an issue the maintainers will track. Before asking anywhere, the project asks users to read the FAQ at libre-tube.github.io first. For anything that needs a fix, open or search a GitHub issue. Translations are handled separately, through the LibreTube project on hosted Weblate.

A Kotlin and Gradle codebase under GPL-3.0 or later

The code is Kotlin, built with Gradle using Kotlin script files, build.gradle.kts and settings.gradle.kts, with the gradlew wrapper checked in. The app module lives in app/, and a separate baselineprofile/ module sits beside it. Store metadata, including the phone screenshots, lives under fastlane/metadata/android. Dependency updates are managed with Renovate, and the repository carries ROADMAP.md and RELEASE.md alongside CONTRIBUTING.md and a code of conduct.

The license is GNU GPL version 3 or later. You can use, study, share and modify LibreTube, but any redistributed modified version must stay under the same terms, which rules out closed forks. Development is funded by donations to the maintainer Bnyro through GitHub Sponsors and Liberapay, with Monero and Ethereum addresses also offered. The default app icon is by XelXen, and an alternative icon called Boosted Bird is by Margot Albert-Heuzey.

Editorial conclusion

LibreTube suits Android users who watch YouTube and want subscriptions, background playback, downloads and SponsorBlock without a Google account, and who value a Material 3 Expressive interface. It does not suit anyone who also follows SoundCloud, PeerTube or Bandcamp in the same app, since NewPipe covers those and LibreTube does not, and it is not an option on iOS. Before relying on it, read PRIVACY_POLICY.md and the privacy policy of the instance you select in the app, and decide whether you need Piped for sync before building up subscriptions and playlists.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. libre-tube/LibreTube on GitHub
2. License: GPL-3.0
3. Project website
4. README
5. Releases