Compared to the desktop browser version, YouTube on iOS lacks an important feature: background playback. Both variants lack download capabilities, and there’s the ever-worsening ad issue. Surely, you could pay for a YouTube Premium subscription, but that sounds a bit like a hostage situation. The NewPipe app solves all that for Android users, and iPhone owners often wonder if an iOS version is available. Here’s all you need to know about that.
Is NewPipe Available on iOS?
For a short (but incomplete) answer: no. NewPipe is only available for Android, and that is unlikely to ever change.
Now for the long answer: NewPipe depends on many technical bits only available on Android. That makes an iOS port impossible, so an iPhone version would need to be done from scratch.
However, NewPipe’s team is small, a dozen people only, who develop the app in their free time. Creating a new app, in addition to maintaining, debugging, and improving the current one, would be too time-consuming. Not to mention they would need to maintain, debug, and improve the new one. It’s simply not feasible.
Before we continue: Keep YouTube Playing in Background on iOS
Time needed: 2 minutes
If all you want to do is listen to YouTube playlists with your iPhone’s screen off, there’s an easy solution. This method also works to listen while using other apps, though it displays a small overlay on all screens. Do the following:
- Use Safari to open the video or playlist you want to play in the background. My address bar is at the top of the screen, but Safari, by default, places it at the bottom.
- Open the viewing options by tapping the icon to the left of the address bar. In all other models and iOS versions, it looks like two “A” letters, one uppercase and one lowercase.
- Select Request Desktop Website in the drop-down menu that appears. In iOS 18, you need to tap the three-dot icon to see this option. The page will reload.
- If you do this correctly, you’ll notice that the page interface looks very small. Just ignore this and tap the Play icon to start the video.
- Your video will start playing in full-screen mode.
- Tap the Picture-in-Picture icon (one outlined rectangle, with an arrow inside it pointing to a smaller, solid rectangle).
- Go back to the home screen. A floating, movable window will appear, with the video playing inside it.
- To listen while using other apps, drag either of the window’s edges to the opposite side of your screen. It will become a small tab, which you can tap to display the window.
NOTE
Yattee: Alternative YouTube Client for iPhone
If it’s a matter of lacking resources and not a technical impossibility, then someone else could make it, right? Yes, and someone else already did. Enter Yattee, which is pretty much the iOS equivalent of NewPipe.
Out of the three major issues (background playback, ads, and download capabilities), Yattee addresses two. Saving YouTube videos to your iPhone isn’t yet supported (and isn’t on the plans for anytime soon).
One of the reasons might be distribution restrictions. Video download is, at best, a legal gray area, and YouTube downloading tools aren’t allowed in most app stores. That’s why, e.g., NewPipe requires users to sideload the apk file.
Sideloading apps is possible on iOS, and there are quite a few methods, actually, like alternative app stores. However, installing iPhone apps from outside Apple’s App Store is a lengthy process. Also, with most methods, you’ll need to re-download them to your phone weekly.
How To Install and Use Yattee
There are four possible ways to install Yattee. They’re listed below in order of difficulty, but each method has its pros and cons.
1. App Store Download
The easiest way of installing Yattee is through the App Store. You can download it like any app.
- Pros: The app can’t get more straightforward than this.
- Cons: Slow updates—Yattee hasn’t received a new App Store version in over a year.
2. Via TestFlight
The second-best way is to use TestFlight, Apple’s official beta testing platform for third-party developers. The procedure is quite simple: all you have to do is install the TestFlight app and ask to join the Yattee beta.
- Pros: Pretty much straightforward, and you get automatic updates like the App Store version, but more frequently.
- Cons: TestFlight apps can only have a limited number of users. New openings appear whenever someone opts out or is removed (after not installing or updating the app for a month). Also, beta versions tend to be less stable and may freeze/crash often.
3. Through AltStore
AltStore is one of the most popular ways of sideloading apps on iOS. The initial setup is quite complex, but things get easier after that. To install Yattee using the AltStore, download the latest version’s IPA file and follow the usual sideloading procedure. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can get a beta version in the app’s Releases page.
- Pros: If you’re used to sideloading apps, the process is relatively easy. You may get new versions faster than through the App Store, too, if you use pre-release builds.
- Cons: If you don’t have AltStore already, configuring it takes a lot of steps. Like any sideloaded app, you’ll also need to reinstall it weekly. Also, Apple places a limited of three sideloaded apps per device.
4. Compile the App Yourself
As an open-source app, with the required tools and knowledge, you can compile Yattee yourself and install it. Download the source code from GitHub, check if all dependencies are met, and build it using XCode 14 or later. Sideload the IPA file and you’re good to go.
- Pros: Depending on how your coding environment is configured, you can pretty much get new builds installed automatically. Also, if you know how to build from a source, having the possibility of doing so might be a pro itself. And you can always make changes to the app before compiling if you want.
- Cons: Having the knowledge to compile apps from source is hard. Building it takes some (but not much) time, too, especially on older machines. You’ll also need to debug it yourself or navigate through the Issues page if something goes wrong. Lastly, you have the same 3-app and 7-day limits as the previous method.
While there’s no iOS version of NewPipe, Yattee is a worthy replacement. You’ll still lack the download option, that’s true. Background playback and ad blocking for YouTube on your iPhone, however, are already enough reasons to give it a shot.