YTPro + The Underground YouTube Client Tier List (TV Edition)
YTPro + The Underground YouTube Client Tier List (TV Edition)
One-Line Flow: Watch YouTube without ads, download anything, skip sponsors, and never see another “Skip Ad in 5 seconds” button again — on any device, especially your TV.
Why You Should Actually Care
Your TV’s YouTube app is designed to show you 47 unskippable ads before a 3-minute video.
These apps delete that problem. Forever. For free.
Some are under 50KB. Your profile picture is bigger than that.
The Tier List (Stop Scrolling Here If You’re Lazy)
| Tier | App | Best For | Vibe |
|---|---|---|---|
 S |
SmartTube | Android TV / Fire Stick | The king. Install this. |
 A |
ReVanced | Phone (want full YT features) | Patched official app |
 A |
Tubular | Phone (privacy + lightweight) | NewPipe but better |
 B |
YTPro | Potato devices / Gemini nerds | 50KB. Not a typo. |
 B |
GrayJay | Multi-platform aggregator | Louis Rossmann’s baby |
 C |
LibreTube | Never touch Google servers | Proxy everything |
YTPro Specifically (The One You Asked About)
What it actually is
WebView wrapper. Injects JavaScript into YouTube’s mobile site.
Translation: it’s a browser pretending to be an app, but with superpowers bolted on.
Why this matters: When YouTube updates, native apps break. WebView apps break differently — sometimes not at all because Android updates the WebView automatically.
The catch: YouTube changes their site = you wait for dev to fix the JS. Usually fast though.
Feature dump
Video/Shorts/Thumbnail/Caption downloads- Ad blocking (built-in, always on)
- SponsorBlock (skip “this video sponsored by…”)
- Return YouTube Dislike (see dislikes again)
- Background playback
- PiP mode
- Google Gemini integration ← summarize videos with AI
- Custom prompts for Gemini (use
{url},{title},{videoId}) - Force zoom
- Hide Shorts entirely
- Disable 60fps/codecs for weak devices
- Auto-update built in
Install
Direct download: https://nightly.link/prateek-chaubey/YTPro/workflows/gradle/main/YTPRO.zip
GitHub: https://github.com/prateek-chaubey/YTPro
Google Play Protect will scream at you. Ignore it. It screams at anything that blocks ads.
For TV Specifically
Just use SmartTube. Seriously.
Why SmartTube > everything else for TV
- Native Android TV interface (not janky phone UI stretched)
- 8K, HDR, 60fps support
- SponsorBlock built-in
- No Google account needed (but can sign in if you want)
- Works on Fire TV, Chromecast w/ Google TV, Nvidia Shield, random Chinese boxes
- Actually maintained by one dude named Yuriy who’s a legend
Install: Open Downloader app → type kutt.it/stn_beta → done
Official Telegram: @SmartTubeNewsEN
When YTPro makes sense for TV instead
- Your TV box has like 2GB storage and SmartTube won’t fit
- You specifically want Gemini video summaries
- You’re weird and I respect that
The Deep Lore (Where Power Users Actually Hang Out)
Community hubs — bookmark these
| Platform | What | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Telegram | SmartTube official | @SmartTubeNewsEN |
| Discord | YouTube.js (the API library) | In their GitHub |
| XDA | ReVanced Megathread | Thread |
| F-Droid | Tubular repo | IzzyOnDroid |
| GitHub | YTPro issues | Issues |
When YouTube breaks something, these places know first. Reddit knows 3 days later.
Apps most people don't know exist
- Tubular — NewPipe fork with SponsorBlock already in it. NewPipe devs refused to add it. Someone forked it. Problem solved.
- NewPipe X — Another fork, continues original codebase while NewPipe does a full rewrite
- InnerTune — YouTube Music without ads, with downloads
- SkyTube Extra — Has Chromecast support (regular SkyTube doesn’t)
- Clipious — Invidious client for Android (proxy everything through Invidious instances)
The VT Report Thing
You mentioned VirusTotal flags stuff.
Why this happens (and why you can ignore it)
These apps do things antivirus vendors don’t like:
| Flag | Why It Triggers | Actual Threat |
|---|---|---|
| Generic.Malware | JS injection into WebView | None. That’s literally how the app works. |
| Adware | Blocks ads | Ironic. |
| PUP | Downloads videos | YouTube doesn’t want this. Your AV is a snitch. |
Rule of thumb: If it’s open source + on GitHub + actively maintained + discussed on XDA = you’re fine.
Don’t download from random APK sites. Use official GitHub releases only. SmartTube’s README literally warns: “Do not download from any app store, APK websites or blogs; these may contain malware.”
What 99% of People Don’t Realize
The actual insight
All these apps exist because YouTube’s API is locked down but their website still works.
- Native clients (NewPipe, SmartTube) = scrape the website, parse HTML, extract video URLs
- WebView wrappers (YTPro, litube) = load the actual website, inject JS to remove ads/add features
- Patched APKs (ReVanced) = modify the official YouTube app binary
YouTube breaks things constantly. The YouTube.js Discord is where devs figure out wtf changed and push fixes. That’s the real infrastructure.
YouTube.js is the library that powers half these apps. One guy (LuanRT) maintains it. When he pushes a fix, downstream apps update within hours.
Quick Links
| Thing | Link |
|---|---|
| YTPro GitHub | https://github.com/prateek-chaubey/YTPro |
| YTPro Download | https://nightly.link/prateek-chaubey/YTPro/workflows/gradle/main/YTPRO.zip |
| SmartTube GitHub | https://github.com/yuliskov/SmartTube |
| SmartTube Install | kutt.it/stn_beta in Downloader app |
| Tubular (F-Droid) | https://f-droid.org/packages/org.polymorphicshade.tubular/ |
| ReVanced | https://github.com/ReVanced |
| GrayJay | https://grayjay.app |
| YouTube.js | https://github.com/LuanRT/YouTube.js |
Last tested: Jan 2026. If something’s broken, check the Telegram channels first.
The Fix (3 Steps)
Still Not Working?
!