Watch YouTube Without The App, Website or an Email address

Newpipe is an Open Source project released in 2015 on the 15th of September to be precise. It is supported by a growing community of developers and other contributors. Donations help maintain this project, it is also a way to support the developers behind it.

Is NewPipe The Best YouTube Alternative?

For a valid comparison NewPipe would have to be a platform on its own like YouTube which unfortunately it is not. So, what is NewPipe?

NewPipeExtractor as it's called is a java framework for scraping video platform websites. With NewPipe we get access to the videos on the YouTube platform without having to go there. With this app on our mobile devices we can search for our favourite videos, channels and subscribe so that we don't miss an update.

This lightweight app also allows us to import and export local subscriptions from one device to another. Not to mention the fact that you can also download your favourite video and audio files with ease. All this without providing an email address and terms of use that we generally accept when we go for the official YouTube app. The image that follows may help explain that it almost looks the same.

But it is only after you test the app that you get to understand that it feels different it actually does feel lightweight. But, unfortunately this isn't for everyone maybe NewPipe is not for you.

Who is NewPipe for?

NewPipe is for security focused viewers. NewPipe is for those who hate ads, for people who don't agree with certain terms by YouTube and still wish to benefit from the awesome videos available on the platform.

The platform is for those who don't wish to use Gmail to be logged in to the platform and still receive channel updates. This is for people who wish to watch videos without having to worry about tracking and their history data being used against term for ads purposes.

Who isn't NewPipe for?

NewPipe is definitely not for creators. If you're a creator I'm sorry but, there is no way that this would work in your favour. NewPipe is not for viewers who wish to support Content Creators in any possible way, at least not in one that would let them know about it. Although this is far apart and there is obviously no relation between these two services NewPipe is like watching YouTube over the Tor Network with no YouTube platform.

You can find ...

Privacy and anonymity at its best. Not even the creators know that you're watching (Not that it matters but it is what it is). Nobody's perfect right? Maybe no app is either, because unfortunately there are things that we cannot do on NewPipe.

You cannot like videos using NewPipe - Since you're not logged into YouTube in anyway you cannot leave a like or thumbs down for that matter.

No comments either - An email isn't a requirement to use the app, and unless you're logged in which is something that cannot be done using this application you cannot leave comments either.

You cannot subscribe, not really - You can subscribe on NewPipe but you cannot subscribe on YouTube using NewPipe., and if this was possible I believe liking and commenting would also be an option but it isn't. Chances of this being possible are very slim because this wouldn't help YouTube in anyway.

What you can still do is play your favourite song or music video while doing something else with background play. You can also download videos and music files as well as share this very same content on your favourite platforms through NewPipe.

An interesting feature which I cannot make sense of is the "play in browser" button because it leads you to YouTube. Over all this is a must try. Security for everyone. Download NewPipe on F-droid and Github.

Make everyday a Cyber Security awareness day.