VacuumTube icon
VacuumTube icon

VacuumTube

VacuumTube is an unofficial wrapper of YouTube Leanback (the console and Smart TV version of YouTube) for the desktop, with a built-in adblocker and minor enhancements.

VacuumTube screenshot 1

Cost / License

  • Free
  • Open Source (MIT)

Application type

Platforms

  • Windows
  • Linux
  • Flathub
  • Flatpak
VacuumTube screenshot 1
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Features

  1.  Ad-free
  2.  Controller Support
  3.  Dark Mode
  4.  Built-in Ad-blocker

VacuumTube News & Activities

Highlights All activities

Recent activities

VacuumTube information

AlternativeTo Categories

System & Hardware, Video & Movies

GitHub repository

  •  1,112 Stars
  •  62 Forks
  •  63 Open Issues
  •   Updated  
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VacuumTube was added to AlternativeTo by Paul on and this page was last updated .

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What is VacuumTube?

VacuumTube is an unofficial wrapper of YouTube Leanback (the console and Smart TV version of YouTube) for the desktop, with a built-in adblocker and minor enhancements. What exactly is this?

It is not a custom client, YouTube Leanback is an official interface. This project simply encompasses it and makes it usable as a standalone desktop application.

YouTube Leanback is just an HTML5 app, and so you can just use it in your browser by going to https://www.youtube.com/tv, but they intentionally block browsers unless it's one of their console or TV apps.

You can technically bypass this by spoofing your user agent, but it isn't the same experience you'd get on a console or TV as it doesn't support controllers outside of the official app, and it's just a much more involved process to get it working.

VacuumTube solves all of this by wrapping it with Electron, pretending to be the YouTube app, implementing controller and touch support, and overall making it a much better experience than just spoofing your user agent.