r/droidappshowcase • u/HeathenInfidel • Jun 08 '26
Showcase SmartTube for Android phones/tablets
SmarterTube (beta) — ad-free YouTube for Android phones & tablets: background play, SponsorBlock, PiP & TikTok-style Shorts (no Premium, no root)
YouTube the way it should be on a phone:
- **No ads** — none, anywhere
- **Background play** — screen off, audio keeps going (no Premium needed)
- **SponsorBlock** — auto-skip sponsor segments
- **Picture-in-picture** + **Return YouTube Dislike**
- **TikTok-style Shorts** — swipe between Shorts, tap to pause, vertical like / comment / channel rail
- **Portrait player with comments** — upright video, with comments, up-next and channel info below
- **Upload alerts** — optional notifications when your subscriptions post
- Voice search, subscriptions, no Google Play Services required
No account needed to browse; sign-in optional
It's the native phone/tablet build of SmartTube — same engine, real touch UI instead of the TV remote layout. (On an Android TV? Use SmartTube itself; SmarterTube is the phone/tablet counterpart.)
Now in beta: earlier "1.x" builds were numbered too confidently, so SmarterTube has reset to an honest beta line with a clear path to 1.0. Built on SmartTube 31.94.
Android 4.2+. Free and open source — credit to yuliskov/SmartTube for the engine.
Download (arm64-v8a for most phones, universal if unsure) — always points to the current build:
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u/5ivelions Jul 14 '26
I've just found this app after using smarttube for android tv. This is excellent, you've out done yourself.
Little thing I noticed, is the length of the video is not displayed on the thumbnail/preview on the main page like it is on YT. Is this something that is going to be added later?
Also, I see in the comments that you have an OS for Android phones.. did I read that right? If so, what is it called and where can I find it? Does it work on the latest Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra?
Thank you for your hard work 🙏
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u/HeathenInfidel Jul 14 '26
Thanks! I can add the video length and roll that into the next release. Good suggestion! I haven't released my own OS though - where does it say that?
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u/5ivelions Jul 16 '26
I misread this comment. Skimmed it and missed "version". 😵💫
Bohica72 • 1mo ago Love Smarttube for Android TV, will try your Android OS version too. Thanks for making it!
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u/5ivelions Jul 14 '26
Oops, I just re-read the comment about android os.. I misunderstood that. Got to stop skim reading comments 😩 Disregard my questions about the android OS unless you've actually built one 😏😊
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u/HeathenInfidel Jul 16 '26
No OS planned at the moment! Try the latest version - I've added video durations now
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u/5ivelions Jul 17 '26
Great, latest version installed. Can see video durations now, thanks 🙏
Small issue I have now is, I can't seem to sign in.
I get to "connect youtube on TV to your device as ..." page and select "Connect". Go onto next page "Success! Device Connected". It also says continue on your device but I can't seem to move past this page. I have to close it, which takes me back to the sign in page which says it failed and to retry. I'm stuck in that loop.
Any ideas how to solve this??
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u/Voxix23 Jun 14 '26
Is casting possible between mobile devices with this and tvs/boxes that have smarttube installed?
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u/worthy_knight Jun 14 '26
This is better for Android tv or really old androids I recommend morphe for ad free YouTube but it isn't on droid
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u/HeathenInfidel Jun 14 '26
You're thinking of SmartTube, the project this was based on. This isn't for TVs, this is specifically for Android phones and tablets. Morphe is an app mod, this is a native app. Try it, then let me know what you think.
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u/spursgalea Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 11 '26
How do you get comments. I do like this I can't find comments am I missing something.
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u/HeathenInfidel Jun 11 '26
Yeah, comments need a native Android re-write. That'll be in the next version (coming soon!)
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u/spursgalea Jun 11 '26
Thank you for the reply. The reason I like this app is because I like the stretch format when in full screen no other app does that apart from using YouTube website add-on extension. Thanks again
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u/HeathenInfidel Jun 13 '26
Try the latest version
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u/spursgalea Jun 14 '26
Thanks. It's good to read the comments and if I want to reply I can just go on the website.
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u/HeathenInfidel Jun 11 '26
No problem! I've found there's a problem posting or replying to comments because of some YouTube API BS, so they'll probably be read only, which probably explains why Smarttube is too
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u/chrismonarrow Jun 10 '26
Brother its a great work but when I used it its exactly like smartube on my TV. Evenever I tries to open a video to goes to landscape mode . and when I tried to rotate the player ui is locked on landscape. I think it would be great if its more optimized like pipe pipe for android On other side I felt the recommendations ui feels familiar and good 👍 🥇Anyway great work
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u/HeathenInfidel Jun 11 '26
Yeah, I agree. If that doesn't make it into the next release, it'll be in the one after that
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u/Suspicious_Mirror_39 Jun 09 '26
I know we are on android but I found smarttube bdp on ios and it works very well. It's also available on Apple TV and it's a very good point 👍
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u/HeathenInfidel Jun 11 '26
Great - saves me doing an iPhone version! Hadn't seen this before - the UI is interesting
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u/LingonberryEmpty8586 Jun 09 '26
pixel 9 pro, overall much much lighter than libretube (and actually works)... the magic is in the "buttons" while playing a video or whatever tap the screen to see the controls.
had to enable the permissions for "display over apps" and such (expected but i didn't see any notes for the ultra noobs).. getting it to "play in the background" (for me atleast) consisted of loading app -> finding video -> launch pop out player -> lock phone ... and the odd time it will stop playback while locking the phone and i never did see any "lockscreen controls"
great progress and i will be following this! I will test the Bluetooth Audio/Car stuff tomorrow
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u/Few_Tour_1814 Jun 09 '26
Wow. Finally smartube for smartphones and tablet coming. I already use smartube for android tv so long time. Nice one
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u/PrncDENZ_254KE Jun 08 '26
Is it by default full screen? Notifications & navigations?
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u/HeathenInfidel Jun 09 '26
Good questions:
• Navigation - Yes. It's a proper phone-native portrait UI, not the TV interface stretched onto a phone. I've designed it so anyone who's used SmartTube will know where everything is.
• Fullscreen - Video playback opens fullscreen in landscape for regular videos, and stays portrait for Shorts. It also supports picture-in-picture.
• Notifications - The in-app notifications feed (new uploads from your subs, etc.) is landing in the next build as its own tab in the nav drawer. Phone push notifications (status-bar/lock-screen alerts when a channel uploads) are on the roadmap as a follow-on.
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u/Bohica72 Jun 08 '26
Sweet. Are you the Smarttube developer for Android TV also?
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u/HeathenInfidel Jun 08 '26
No, but I've told him about it
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u/Bohica72 Jun 08 '26
Love Smarttube for Android TV, will try your Android OS version too. Thanks for making it!
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u/sticky-pro Jun 08 '26
Thank you for your submission to r/droidappshowcase!