Huge update for third-party Android YouTube client NewPipe released
The developers of the third-party Android YouTube client NewPipe released an update this week for the application. NewPipe 0.23.1 introduces support for new technologies that YouTube uses, which improve the performance of playback and seeking, as well as video playback compatibility.
I reviewed NewPipe in January 2022 here on this site calling it the better YouTube client for Android. Unlike Google's own YouTube client, which is full of ads and other unpleasantries, it is free of ads and supports features that YouTube's client does not in the free version.
Besides support for background playback, NewPipe supports downloading videos to the system for offline viewing, subscribing to channels without a Google account, and more.
NewPipe is one of the YouTube Vanced alternatives for Android. Vanced is still working at this time, but the project has been discontinued. There is Revanced, which is still in development.
NewPipe 0.23.1 introduces support for delivery methods other than the already supported progressive HTTP. DASH is among these delivery methods, and this unlocks a number of features on YouTube that were previously not available:
- Improved playback and seeking performance.
- Improved resolution and format availability.
- Recently ended livestreams can be played entirely.
Responsiveness and performance improved significantly, by an "order of magnitude" according to the developers. Videos load instantly now, thanks to DASH being the default for playbacks on YouTube. Repeated buffering of videos appears to be a thing of the past as well.
Other supported services, PeerTube and SoundCloud, benefit from the introduction of new delivery methods as well. On PeerTube, seeking is now working properly on videos that use HLS streams. Additionally, a crash was fixed on videos with audio-only streams. On SoundCloud, playback of HLS-only streams was fixed.
The developers note that the new delivery methods are not yet implemented in the downloader. It still uses progressive HTTP only at the time, but it is planned to introduce support in future updates.
Another new feature is the ability to import playlists from services such as YouTube to local NewPipe playlists. NewPipe users get full editing access to imported playlists, which means, that they may add or remove videos from it.
The update is available on the project's GitHub repository already. It is not yet available on F-Droid, but will become available there as well in the future.
Now You: do you watch YouTube on your mobile devices?
Yes I usually just use browser. But newpipe ability to download video is nice. another contender for older android devices is skytube
Great!
There is several steps forward with project ReVanced which is being forked left right and center. Whilst it is nowhere near what vanced was it does however show a lot of promise and support to take it there and beyond. Time will tell I guess. In the meantime I will wait it out and also wait for Newpipe Sponsorblock to be updated.
Thanks Mystique.
Didn’t know ReVanced was a thing. I’ll keep an eye out for it.
‘It is not yet available on F-Droid, but will become available there as well in the future.’
F-Droid releases take time because of manual souce code inspection. While there are some apps like Fairemail where it is good to install F-Droid version since there is no Google OAuth in that version – one less Google connection(ofcourse app passwords exist to connect Google account). In Newpipe case it is best to install it directly from GitHub or even from custom Newpipe F-Droid repo since all versions are same bar app signature which is different for F-Droid release.
This update is huge and instanly replaces Vanced for everything bar live comments feature.
There is also Libretube which is receiving updates left, right and centre. More options for users.
Superb. They have come a long way. NewPipe is my go to now since Vanced is gone.
I just install NewPipe from Google store. Buggy and sluggish. Pfft!
NewPipe is not available officially on Google Play. Try the direct app or wait for the F-Droid release, it did not feel sluggish at all on the test system.
Wow, how professional of you. You messed up big time and decided to come here and tell everyone about it. Thanks for the laughs! “Google store”….
PFFFT, indeed.
I don’t know what you downloaded but I would advise uninstalling it and run an anti-virus test just in case. NewPipe is available on F-Droid or here https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe/releases/
great app! thank you for the tip.