MeTube

A lightweight, high-performance, cross-platform YouTube Cast Leanback Receiver built from scratch using Flutter. It transforms any Desktop (macOS, Linux, Windows) or Mobile device into a dedicated Smart TV target, allowing you to cast videos seamlessly from your phone's official YouTube app over local Wi-Fi or using a pairing code.

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Features

• Zero-Friction Wi-Fi Casting (DIAL Protocol): Implements a native SSDP multicast discovery engine and a background HTTP REST server. Your phone detects it instantly under the standard Cast menu.
• Persistent Sessions: Automatically saves cookies, local storage states, and device link tokens to disk across app restarts.
• Native Desktop Edge-to-Edge Fullscreen: Launches directly into true borderless fullscreen on desktop platforms, hiding standard window decorations and system top-bars.
• Lightweight Core: Wraps the official high-fidelity YouTube TV interface cleanly without heavy external web dependencies.

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Prerequisites & Large Files

This repository uses Git LFS (Large File Storage) to track large assets, pre-compiled platform libraries, or heavy graphics.

Before cloning, ensure you have Git LFS installed on your machine. If not, install it using your package manager:

# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install git-lfs

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install git-lfs

# Windows (Winget)
winget install GitHub.GitLFS

Initialize Git LFS globally once:

git lfs install

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Getting Started

1. Clone the Repository

Clone the repository normally. Git LFS will automatically pull down the actual asset pointer files during the process:

git clone https://github.com/your-username/metube.git
cd metube

2. Install Flutter Dependencies

Pull down the project package dependencies (including window management and platform webview hooks):

flutter pub get

3. Run the Application Localy

Ensure your target testing device or environment is connected, then run:

# Run on macOS desktop
flutter run -d macos

# Run on Linux desktop
flutter run -d linux

# Run on Android device
flutter run -d android

4. Build the Release Payload

To compile standalone, optimized production binaries:

# Compile Android APK
flutter build apk --release

# Compile macOS App Bundle
flutter build macos --release

# Compile Linux Application
flutter build linux --release

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How to Link & Cast

MeTube Receiver gives you two seamless methods to hook up your smartphone as a physical remote control. Ensure both your phone and the MeTube platform are connected to the exact same Wi-Fi subnet.

Method A: Direct Link with Wi-Fi (Recommended)

1. Launch the MeTube Receiver app on your computer or Android device.
2. Open the official YouTube app on your iOS or Android phone.
3. Tap the Cast icon (the streaming screen symbol) at the top of the YouTube app.
4. Select "MeTube" from the discovered local device drawer.
5. The background DIAL engine instantly performs a handshake, mapping your phone directly to the front-end frame automatically!

Method B: Link with TV Code

1. If your local network configuration drops multicast UDP packets, navigate manually inside the MeTube interface to Settings $\rightarrow$ Link with TV Code.
2. A blue 12-digit code will populate on screen.
3. Open your phone's YouTube app, go to Settings $\rightarrow$ General $\rightarrow$ Watch on TV, and tap Enter TV Code.
4. Type in the numbers. Your session will lock in place and save to disk securely for all future launches.