NewPipe

NewPipe is a free and open-source media player app that is most well-known as a YouTube client. It is only available in the F-Droid software repository[2] (or as a direct APK download from the GitHub repository) and is only for Android devices. It can be used as an alternative to the official YouTube app.[3][4][5]

NewPipe
Original author(s)Christian Schabesberger
Developer(s)Team NewPipe
Initial releaseSeptember 15, 2015 (2015-09-15)
Stable release
0.19.5 / May 30, 2020 (2020-05-30)
Repositorygithub.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe/
Written inJava
Operating systemAndroid
Available in60 languages[1]
TypeMedia player (software)
LicenseGPLv3
Websitenewpipe.schabi.org

Version history

NewPipe was originally released as Version 0.3 on 4 September 2015 and was created by Christian Schabesberger.[6] Notable updates include:[7]

  • Search and play YouTube videos (since 0.3)
  • Download Videos and Audio (since 0.3)
  • Play only the audio of a video (since 0.4.1)
  • Show similar videos (since 0.6)
  • Support for displaying YouTube Channels (since 0.8.5)
  • A pop-up player (since 0.8.12), (resizeable since 0.9.5)
  • Channel subscriptions via RSS (since 0.10.0)
  • Support for displaying sites like the "Trending" section of YouTube (since 0.11.0)
  • SoundCloud support (since 0.11.5)
  • Local playlists and subtitles (since 0.12.0)
  • YouTube livestreaming and ex/import of subscriptions (since 0.13.0)
  • MediaCCC Support (since 0.16.0)
  • Display comments (but not comment replies) (since 0.16.0)
  • Resume streams where they were last stopped (since 0.17.0)
  • Peertube support (since 0.18.0)
  • Basic Android TV support (since 0.19.3)

Technology

NewPipe does not use the official YouTube API, but instead scrapes the website for video and meta-data (such as likes, dislikes, and views). This is done intentionally to decrease the amount of data shared with Google. The web-scraping tool is called the NewPipe-Extractor[8] and is a stand-alone project. It is also used in the free and open-source app SkyTube.[9] This method of extracting information can result in a "Could Not Decrypt video URL" error every time the Youtube back-end is updated.[10][11][12][13] This results in no YouTube videos loading until an update fixing the bug is released. Once an update is released, NewPipe can load videos as normal, however the bug could repeat itself if the YouTube back-end is updated again.

In newer versions of the app, the Extractor supports YouTube, SoundCloud, MediaCCC and PeerTube.[14][15] However, SoundCloud, MediaCCC and PeerTube are in beta so they may not always work properly.[16][17] The development team have said that their main focus for further development will be YouTube until version 2.0.0.[18][lower-alpha 1]

Because of the way NewPipe accesses YouTube without using the API or displaying advertisements, it would be in conflict with the Google terms of service if it were available on the Google Play Store.[19][20]

Notes
  1. Under "SoundCloud Beta problems" there is an explanation that YouTube is the team's main priority, not Soundcloud.

References
  1. Čihař, Michal. "NewPipe". Hosted Weblate. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  2. "NewPipe". F-Droid. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  3. "YouTube Alternatives for Android". AlternativeTo. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  4. Diener, Derrik (5 March 2016). "New Pipe: An Open Source Take on an Android YouTube App". Make Tech Easier.
  5. "How To Play YouTube in Background on Android Using NewPipe App". DailyWoke. 16 October 2017.
  6. Schabesberger, Christian (March 2018). "About NewPipe". NewPipe. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  7. Schabesberger, Christian. "TeamNewPipe/NewPipe Releases". Retrieved 18 June 2018 – via GitHub.
  8. Schabesberger, Christian. "TeamNewPipe/NewPipeExtractor". Retrieved 19 June 2018 – via GitHub.
  9. "SkyTube: An open-source YouTube app". skytube-app.com. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
  10. "Could not decrypt video URL signature · Issue #1803 · TeamNewPipe/NewPipe". GitHub. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  11. "Youtube URL Decryption Fails · Issue #2012 · TeamNewPipe/NewPipe". GitHub. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  12. "Cannot Decrypt URL error since today · Issue #2209 · TeamNewPipe/NewPipe". GitHub. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  13. ""Video not available" / "Could not decrypt video URL" · Issue #2981 · TeamNewPipe/NewPipe". GitHub. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  14. Schabesberger, Christian. "Add MediaCCC support · Pull Request #2083 · TeamNewPipe/NewPipe". GitHub. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
  15. Schabesberger, Christian. "NewPipe 0.18.0 released, adding PeerTube support". NewPipe blog. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
  16. "Error when doing anything with soundcloud · Issue #2745 · TeamNewPipe/NewPipe". GitHub. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
  17. "[Soundcloud] "Could not parse json response" · Issue #2915 · TeamNewPipe/NewPipe". GitHub. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
  18. Schabesberger, Christian. "Newpipe FAQ - Bugs & Requests". newpipe.schabi.org. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
  19. Torres, J. C. (20 July 2017). "NewPipe – YouTube Android app with more controls and no Google". SlashGear. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  20. "Legal question · Issue #969 · TeamNewPipe/NewPipe". GitHub. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
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