YouTube is the biggest free video streaming service on the planet. But you pay a price with your privacy. Fortunately, there are apps to make YouTube more private and secure or use alternatives with similar features.
It is no secret that Google-owned YouTube is tracking your every move. We now know that giving big technology companies that much power over you can enable them to affect how you think, behave, and seek. Third-party developers are doing their best to let you experience YouTube in a privacy-friendly way that doesn't give Google power over you. Here are some of the best ways to make YouTube more private and secure.
1. FreeTube (Windows, macOS, Linux): The Best Privacy-Friendly YouTube App for Computers
FreeTube is the best way to get the entire YouTube experience on a desktop computer without giving your data to Google. It even looks similar to the original YouTube, making it that much easier to use. But it includes subtle changes under the hood, like storing all your user history and data locally on your computer, which is never sent to any server.
The desktop app doesn't require you to create a YouTube account to get some of the best features like creating playlists, saving videos for later, or even subscribing to the best channels. In fact, you can import your existing YouTube channel subscription list into FreeTube for a simple and hassle-free viewing experience.
Dive into the settings of FreeTube and you'll find plenty of customizable options, such as how it saves your viewing history, the watch next video and recommendations, default playback speeds or audio, and so on. FreeTube also removes YouTube ads, so that's a major benefit even if you don't have YouTube Premium.
Mostly, FreeTube works fantastically, but it does show the odd problem. For example, video comments didn't load well for us, and other users report similar issues, but many others have a no-complaint experience. Still, the comments would be a small price to pay for all the other benefits of FreeTube.
Download: FreeTube for Windows | macOS | Linux (Free)
2. Invidious (Web): The Best Privacy-Friendly YouTube Alternative on the Web
Till 2020, Invidious was the most popular way to use YouTube privately, calling itself an alternative frontend to YouTube. The objective was to load YouTube videos in its own open-source, lightweight interface, which strips all ads and tracking.
Unfortunately, the developer of Invidious stopped working on the site at the end of 2020, and shut down its main version. However, since it's open-source, several fans and community members have come up with their own instances of Invidious and kept it running for now. It's anyone's guess how long this will work as YouTube issues new updates to its interface.
But right now, you can use Invidious through instances like the one linked above, or through the directory of Invidious instances. It's a minimalist interface in which you can search for videos, or check popular and trending titles. Each video includes comments from Reddit, and an option to download the YouTube video to your disk. You can also switch off the video and listen to only the audio.
If you create an Invidious account, you can get the best features of YouTube without the privacy concerns. It supports watch history, subscriptions, and playlists, none of which impact how your account gives data to YouTube.
3. NewPipe (Android): The Best Privacy-Friendly YouTube App for Mobiles
FreshTube is a desktop-only app, but the next best on smartphones and tablets is NewPipe. This YouTube client for Android does more than the official app, especially when it comes to protecting your privacy.
Usually, Google asks for several permissions that aren't really required for playing a video, like your current location or access to your keyboard. NewPipe keeps all this data offline and even tries not to use any proprietary Google APIs to make the app work. The app makers say that the only information sent is what's needed to get the video and channel details.
The app itself looks and behaves like YouTube with a makeover. Like FreshTube, you can subscribe to channels without an account, create a playlist, download videos, and so on. NewPipe also supports pop-up play to watch the video when you move away from the app.
NewPipe isn't available on the Play Store. You can download and install the APK from the official site, or use the F-Droid app market to get it. Unfortunately, there is no iOS version, nor any similar app for iPhones because of Apple's closed ecosystem.
Download: NewPipe for Android (Free)
4. Piped (Web): Fast and Stable Alternative YouTube Frontend
Piped is one of the newest alternative YouTube frontends, meant to be a competitor to both Invidious and FreshTube. It uses NewPipe's technology to bring all the YouTube content to you in a privacy-friendly website.
The focus of Piped was on creating something like Invidious that is stable and fast. It also removes in-video ads and uses SponsorBlock to skip sponsored segments automatically in videos. You can change the country location (USA by default), and choose to store your watch history (off by default).
The developer notes that Piped channels all content through a proxy, which can lead to some problems about age-constrained content and country-restricted videos. It's a work in progress, and hopefully should be fixed soon enough.
5. Privacy Redirect (Chrome, Firefox, Edge): Automatic Redirects to Privacy-Friendly Options
When you start with the intention of visiting YouTube, you can use one of the other apps in this list. But often, you'll click a link somewhere that opens a tab in your browser, and just like that, you're on YouTube. Privacy Redirect tries to stop that from happening.
The extension doesn't require any input from you after you install it. Whenever you try to visit YouTube through the URL bar, or click a link elsewhere, it'll redirect you to an Invidious instance. This also works when you try to play embedded YouTube videos on any page.
Dive into Privacy Redirect's settings and you'll be able to use FreeTube instead of Invidious by changing that option. You can also change instances, set a default quality and volume, and set exceptions if you want.
Privacy Redirect also works with several other sites like Twitter, Instagram, Google Maps, and such names that frequently come up in privacy questions. It's one of the best privacy extensions for better security.
Download: Privacy Redirect for Chrome | Firefox | Edge (Free)
Protect Your Privacy to Avoid "YouTube Regret"
Pick the app that best suits your usage to protect your privacy on YouTube, but make sure you use it. When YouTube gathers data on you, it starts building a profile on you and recommending videos that can alter how you think. It's called a "YouTube Regret" and you don't want to fall down that hole.
Mozilla conducted a study in 2019 about how YouTube's recommendation algorithm is leading people to bizarre and wrong pathways. The full report is worth a read, but you can also find the main details on the YouTube Regrets mini-site.
