Unless you have a YouTube premium subscription, you cannot opt out of advertisements. And no matter what, Google may track some of your information while using the app to provide a personalized experience as well.
While getting personalized recommendations for YouTube videos can be useful, it may not help you keep your browsing habit private.
Even the best VPNs for Android cannot stop Google from tracking you because everything will be associated with your account at the end of the day.
So, how can you watch YouTube without annoying advertisements and Google tracking you on your Android device?
I have compiled a couple of solutions for you to watch YouTube videos privately on your Android smartphone. Let us take a look.
Use NewPipe to Browse YouTube Without Advertisements
NewPipe is a free and open-source application popularly known as an unofficial YouTube client for Android.
It does not display any advertisements when you watch YouTube videos through it. You do not need an account to use it or manage subscriptions. All your data is stored offline on your phone (except some minimal information required to fetch the videos).
You can download videos, listen to videos, change the video quality, download audio, have playlists, clear your local history, and get the ability to tweak a couple more things from the Settings menu.
It also does not utilize Google framework libraries, or the YouTube API. This makes it suitable to use on any Android smartphone, even without Google services installed.
Unfortunately, it is not available on the Play Store because it goes against the Google Play Store guidelines. However, you can find it listed on F-Droid, which is a Google Play Store alternative that hosts free and open-source applications by verifying the source code.
Download: NewPipe via F-Droid
Visit Invidious Instances on your Web Browser
If you do not prefer to install an app for some reason, you can always utilize a public Invidious instance through your default mobile browser or on your PC when needed.
Invidious is a free and open-source front-end to YouTube minus all the tracking and advertisements. Like how NewPipe works, this also does not require you to sign into an account.
All you have to do is browse the list of public instances available (as shown in the image below) and then click on any of the links to start browsing YouTube.
You can head to its project page on GitHub to explore more about it.
Visit: Invidious via GitHub
Want to Watch YouTube Videos Privately?
Now you can easily enhance your digital privacy and get rid of annoying advertisements while using YouTube on your smartphone. Google still controls Android, but you have a few options on your side to take back control of your data.
Using the NewPipe app should be more convenient considering you get every feature from the official YouTube app. But, if you do not want to install an unofficial app, you can always visit a public Invidious instance website on your browser.
