SmoothTube v1.4.0

SmoothTube v1.4.0

SmoothTube v1.4.0 adds system-wide YouTube link handling, an optional Edge/Chrome extension, improved search fallbacks, and richer metadata for externally opened videos.

Highlights

• Open YouTube links from browsers, messaging apps, and other Windows applications.
• Added support for videos, Shorts, livestreams, mobile links, Music links, and youtu.be.
• Added an optional browser extension for Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome.
• Reuses the existing SmoothTube window when opening links.
• Populates Up next from cached subscriptions.
• Restores titles, channel details, subscriber counts, thumbnails, and subscription status.
• Improved search results when the YouTube API is unavailable or quota-limited.
• Improved livestream and premiere detection.
• Fixed unavailable thumbnails caused by generated hq720 URLs.

Install or update SmoothTube

Updating in place is recommended because uninstalling may remove settings, credentials, watch history, and cached data.

1. Download the SmoothTube installer ZIP.
2. Extract the ZIP.
3. Open the extracted folder.
4. Right-click Add-AppDevPackage.ps1.
5. Select Run with PowerShell.
6. Follow the prompts.

If PowerShell closes immediately, open PowerShell inside the extracted folder and run:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass
.\Add-AppDevPackage.ps1

The same script supports both fresh installations and updates.

Install the browser extension

Install SmoothTube first so Windows registers the smoothtube: protocol.

1. Download and extract the browser-extension ZIP.
2. Open edge://extensions or chrome://extensions.
3. Enable Developer mode.
4. Select Load unpacked.
5. Select the extracted BrowserExtension folder.
6. Open a YouTube video and approve the Open SmoothTube prompt.

Use the extension's toolbar toggle to temporarily disable redirection.

For links from messaging apps, open Windows Settings → Apps → Apps for websites and ensure SmoothTube is enabled for YouTube.

The browser extension is distributed separately and is not included inside the MSIX package.

SmoothTube v1.3.0

SmoothTube v1.3.0 focuses on light mode polish, fullscreen player cleanup, fresher video metadata, improved Channel page loading, better upload pagination, and overall watch-page refinement.

Highlights

• Optimized light mode styling across watch pages, cards, lists, and surrounding surfaces for a cleaner and more consistent look.
• Fixed the embedded player fullscreen border issue and improved fullscreen sizing/alignment so videos fill the available space more cleanly.
• Improved player edge and corner presentation in light mode so the video area blends better with lighter surfaces.
• Refreshed video metadata handling so view counts and published / streamed relative time are based on actual timestamps instead of stale cached text.
• Improved reopening videos from Continue Watching / history so older entries refresh their metadata when revisited.
• Fixed upload and livestream relative-time formatting so labels like “4 hours ago” stay accurate.
• Improved Channel page loading for uploads, including better handling for channels where content was not appearing correctly.
• Improved older upload pagination / Load more behavior for Channel pages.
• Added a Channel page refresh action to reload cached channel content and fetch newer uploads more reliably.
• Matched the Channel page refresh button to the Subscriptions page style, including the inline rotating loading indicator.
• Added additional watch-page, channel-page, and metadata presentation polish across the updated UI.
• Added title bar branding and refreshed Windows icon resources as part of broader app presentation improvements.

Notes

Taskbar hover-preview icon behavior still needs additional follow-up on Windows shell handling. The app-side icon resource wiring has been improved, but this part is not considered fully resolved in this release.

Installation

Download the release package, extract it, and run the included install script (Add-AppDevPackage.ps1) provided. If Windows blocks the script, run PowerShell as Administrator and use:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass
.\Add-AppDevPackage.ps1

Disclaimer

SmoothTube is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by YouTube or Google. YouTube is a registered trademark of Google LLC.

SmoothTube v1.2.0

SmoothTube v1.2.0 focuses on subscription feed reliability, smoother loading, restored duration badges, improved live chat behavior, cleaner video card rendering, Library interface polish, and Release build stability.

Highlights

• Improved Subscriptions ordering using globally sorted recent uploads from subscribed RSS feeds.
• Fixed Load More ordering so newer uploads remain above older ones.
• Preserved loaded subscription cache until the user explicitly refreshes.
• Added skeleton loading UI for smoother subscription refresh/load operations.
• Restored reliable Subscriptions loading after duration enrichment changes.
• Restored duration badges on RSS-loaded subscription cards using background duration fetching.
• Prevented duration fetching from blocking or breaking the Subscriptions page.
• Removed duration-based Shorts filtering so normal videos under 3 minutes remain visible.
• Improved embedded YouTube live chat layout and sign-in helper behavior.
• Fixed normal video fullscreen exit incorrectly showing the Live Chat panel.
• Fixed leading emoji clipping in video titles.
• Removed unwanted title spacing when no emoji is present.
• Restored Continue Watching progress overlay on video cards.
• Updated the Library page interface and restored its Continue Watching section.
• Fixed packaged Release build startup crash caused by System.Text.Json reflection serialization settings.

Notes

Playlist support is still groundwork in this release. Full private/saved playlist support is planned as a future follow-up pending OAuth scope handling.

Installation

Download the release package, extract it, and run the included install script if provided. If Windows blocks the script, run PowerShell as Administrator and use:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass

Then run the install script again.

Disclaimer

SmoothTube is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by YouTube or Google.

SmoothTube v1.1.0

SmoothTube v1.1.0

SmoothTube v1.1.0 focuses on subscriptions, persistent caching, duration badges, livestream/premiere behavior, video page polish, and overall usability.

Highlights

• Added persistent JSON-backed caching for Home, Subscriptions, and Channel pages.
• Improved Subscriptions recent uploads ordering with time-based sorting.
• Improved Subscriptions refresh behavior so Recent Uploads can refresh cleanly without wiping cached livestream/premiere results.
• Added duration badge recovery for loaded subscription videos.
• Fixed Continue Watching duration badges using saved duration seconds.
• Improved livestream and premiere loading with quota-aware behavior and cached partial results.
• Improved Video page layout, channel metadata, description handling, and pause behavior.
• Improved thumbnail handling across Search, Video cards, Up next, and Channel content.
• Updated Channel page loaded-count wording to clarify currently loaded content.
• Added a temporary app icon for better visual coherence across Windows, taskbar, Start menu, and app package surfaces.

Notes

SmoothTube uses the YouTube Data API and the embedded YouTube player. Livestream and premiere discovery may still be partial if the YouTube Search API quota is exhausted.

The SmoothTube app itself does not block or remove YouTube ads. Playback behavior follows the embedded YouTube player.

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Installation

Update from v1.0.0

You usually do not need to uninstall the previous version.

1. Download SmoothTube-v1.1.0-Windows-x64.zip from this release.
2. Extract the ZIP file.
3. Open the extracted folder.
4. Right-click Add-AppDevPackage.ps1.
5. Choose Run with PowerShell.

If PowerShell blocks the script, open PowerShell inside the extracted folder and run:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass
.\Add-AppDevPackage.ps1

Windows should update the existing SmoothTube installation in place as long as the package identity, publisher certificate, and architecture match.

Only uninstall the old version first if Windows shows a package conflict or the update script fails.

Fresh install

1. Download SmoothTube-v1.1.0-Windows-x64.zip.
2. Extract the ZIP file.
3. Open the extracted folder.
4. Right-click Add-AppDevPackage.ps1.
5. Choose Run with PowerShell.
6. Follow the prompts shown by PowerShell.
7. Launch SmoothTube from the Start menu.

If PowerShell blocks the script, open PowerShell inside the extracted folder and run:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass
.\Add-AppDevPackage.ps1

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YouTube API Setup

SmoothTube requires your own YouTube Data API credentials for subscription features, authenticated YouTube actions, and API-backed metadata.

You will need:

• YouTube Data API v3 API key
• OAuth Client ID
• OAuth Client Secret

Step 1: Create a Google Cloud project

1. Go to Google Cloud Console.
2. Sign in with your Google account.
3. Create a new project.
4. Give it a name such as SmoothTube.
5. Select the project after creating it.

Step 2: Enable YouTube Data API v3

1. In Google Cloud Console, open APIs & Services.
2. Go to Library.
3. Search for YouTube Data API v3.
4. Open it.
5. Click Enable.

Step 3: Create an API key

1. Go to APIs & Services → Credentials.
2. Click Create Credentials.
3. Choose API key.
4. Copy the generated API key.
5. Optional but recommended: restrict the key to YouTube Data API v3.

Step 4: Configure OAuth consent

1. Go to APIs & Services → OAuth consent screen.
2. Choose the user type available to you.
3. Fill in the required app information.
4. Add your own Google account as a test user if the app is in testing mode.
5. Save the consent screen.

Step 5: Create OAuth Client ID and Secret

1. Go to APIs & Services → Credentials.
2. Click Create Credentials.
3. Choose OAuth client ID.
4. For application type, choose Desktop app.
5. Name it something like SmoothTube Desktop.
6. Click Create.
7. Copy the Client ID and Client Secret.

Step 6: Add credentials in SmoothTube

1. Open SmoothTube.
2. Go to Settings.
3. Paste your:
   • YouTube API Key
   • OAuth Client ID
   • OAuth Client Secret
4. Save the settings.
5. Sign in with Google from SmoothTube.
6. Approve the requested YouTube permissions.

After this, SmoothTube should be able to load your subscriptions, recent uploads, livestreams, premieres, and authenticated YouTube actions.

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Troubleshooting

The app does not install

Try running PowerShell manually from the extracted release folder:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass
.\Add-AppDevPackage.ps1

If Windows reports a package conflict, uninstall the previous SmoothTube package and then install again.

Subscriptions do not load

Check that:

• You are signed in from SmoothTube Settings.
• YouTube Data API v3 is enabled in Google Cloud Console.
• Your API key is correct.
• Your OAuth Client ID and Client Secret are correct.
• Your Google account is added as a test user if your OAuth app is still in testing mode.

Livestreams or premieres are missing

Livestream and premiere detection uses YouTube Search API quota. If the quota is exhausted, SmoothTube may show cached or partial live/premiere results until the quota resets.

Duration badges are missing

SmoothTube tries to recover duration badges through API metadata and lightweight fallback checks. Some videos may temporarily show without duration if YouTube metadata is unavailable or quota is limited.

SmoothTube v1.0.0

SmoothTube v1.0.0

This is the initial usable release of SmoothTube, a native Windows 11 YouTube client built with WinUI 3, WebView2, and the YouTube Data API.

SmoothTube is still under active development, but this release is usable enough for early testing and personal use. Some features may depend on API quota, video owner settings, Google account permissions, public metadata fallback availability, and WebView2 behavior.

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Highlights

• Native Windows 11 interface built with WinUI 3.
• Home, Search, Library, Subscriptions, Channel, and Video pages.
• Embedded YouTube playback through WebView2.
• Local Continue Watching support with playback progress and resume.
• YouTube Data API integration for metadata, search, comments, subscriptions, channels, and live chat where available.
• Google OAuth sign-in support using PKCE and localhost redirect.
• Signed-in subscriptions with recent uploads, duration badges, livestream/premiere handling, refresh support, and cached metadata.
• Video cards with thumbnail overlays, duration badges, live/premiere labels, and progress indicators.
• Settings page for local API/OAuth configuration.

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Installation

This release is distributed as a test-signed sideload package.

1. Download SmoothTube-v1.0.0-windows-x64.zip.
2. Extract the ZIP file.
3. Right-click Add-AppDevPackage.ps1.
4. Select Run with PowerShell.
5. Follow the prompts until PowerShell shows that the app was successfully installed.

If PowerShell closes immediately, open the extracted folder in Terminal and run:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass
.\Add-AppDevPackage.ps1

After installation, search for SmoothTube in the Start Menu and launch it from there.

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Setup After Installation

SmoothTube does not include any bundled Google or YouTube credentials.

To enable live YouTube data and signed-in features:

1. Open Settings inside SmoothTube.
2. Add your own YouTube Data API key.
3. Optional: add your own Google OAuth Desktop client ID and client secret.
4. Sign in with Google to enable subscriptions and account-related features.

Without API/OAuth configuration, some metadata may rely on public fallback endpoints and some signed-in features will not be available.

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Notes and Limitations

• This is an early v1 release and may still contain bugs.
• The package is test-signed, so Windows may require PowerShell sideload installation.
• Some videos cannot be embedded because the video owner disables playback on other websites.
• YouTube API quota limits can affect search, subscriptions, livestream detection, comments, and metadata loading.
• Invidious/Piped-style fallback endpoints are best-effort and may be unavailable, rate-limited, or incomplete.
• The app currently uses default package visual assets. A custom app icon and branding pass will be added in a future release.
• SmoothTube is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by YouTube or Google.

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License

SmoothTube is source-available.

Viewing the code for reference is allowed, but copying, modifying, redistributing, publishing, rebranding, sublicensing, or replicating the project or substantial portions of it without prior permission is not permitted.

See the LICENSE file for details.