Privacy has become an important concern with the rising popularity of online video consumption. Even though a large population is on the internet, people are always worried about their privacy and data security. And why not? The growth of cybercrime and harassment leads to such concern.
However, to protect users’ privacy while watching videos on YouTube, a popular solution is emerging simultaneously: FreeTube. FreeTube is an open-source YouTube client that offers ad-free and privacy-focused video streaming. It allows individuals to watch YouTube videos while ensuring their privacy and data are protected. But the real question is, “How to Install FreeTube Player on Ubuntu?”
Join us in this article as we present the comprehensive guide to installing FreeTube Player on Ubuntu. Ubuntu is amongst some widely used Linux distributions known for its robust security and flexibility. Ubuntu is an ideal platform for privacy-conscious internet users even though it offers better release quality and security.
Here’s all about Installing FreeTube players on Ubuntu and a lot more.
FreeTube, An Introduction
FreeTube is an open-source YouTube client. This platform focuses on prioritizing user privacy and eliminating ads. The idea behind introducing FreeTube was to present a secure and ad-free video streaming experience for users. It blocks the tracking mechanisms and thus offers personalized recommendations for users. (Prevent Google from tracking with their cookies and JavaScript.)
This privacy-focused desktop application is an excellent alternative for accessing YouTube videos. FreeTube users can do everything as usual, including subscribing to YouTube channels (without an account), creating playlists, and downloading videos.
However, users can enjoy FreeTube as a privacy-focused alternative which YouTube is not. This platform secures and saves subscriptions, history, and downloaded videos, stores them locally on the user’s device, and never shares them with anyone else.
Download FreeTube (https://freetubeapp.io/#download)
FreeTube Features
- Ad-Free Viewing
- Privacy-Focused
- Privacy Mode for cleaning history, cookies, and search queries.
- Offline Downloads
- Subscriptions and Playlists
- Customizable Interface
- Cross-Platform Availability for Windows, macOS, and Linux
How to Install FreeTube Player on Ubuntu?
Installing FreeTube on Ubuntu is a simple process. Here’s a step-by-step guide that will allow you to Install FreeTube on Ubuntu within no time:
Step 1: Firstly, ensure that all your Ubuntu system packages are up to date. To ensure the same, run the following command in the terminal:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
For launching the terminal, press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard altogether.
Step 2: Once you run the command, it will update your system to its latest version. In addition, it will also refresh the APT package manager cache. Doing so is necessary so your system can recognize the latest installed packages.
Step 3: Next, download and install FreeTube. Even though this online streaming platform is an open-source application, unfortunately, it isn’t available on the system repository of Ubuntu. Therefore, to download FreeTube, visit https://freetubeapp.io/#download and begin the downloading process depending on your operating system.
Step 4: once the DEB package file downloading is finished, you can start the installation process. And to do so, run the following command in the terminal:
sudo apt install ./freetube_*_amd64.deb
Step 5: That’s it; you have now successfully downloaded and installed FreeTube on Ubuntu.
Step 6: Further, navigate to Activities and choose Show Applications -> FreeTube. Or, go to the Application launcher, type “FreeTube” search for it, and launch. Alternatively, you can also run the following command on the terminal: “freetube”
How To Remove/ Uninstall FreeTube From Ubuntu?
If, at any point in time, you are not satisfied with using FreeTube on Ubuntu, you can straightaway uninstall it. Here’s how you can uninstall
FreeTube from Ubuntu:
Step 1: Simply open the terminal and run the following command:
sudo apt remove freetube
That’s it. You are done now.
Install FreeTube Player on Ubuntu as a Flatpak package
Users can also install FreeTube on Ubuntu as a Flatpak package. However, it is important to have this technology enabled in their device to do the same.
Step 1: Once the Flatpack packages are installed on your system, run the following command in the terminal:
flatpak install flathub io.freetubeapp.FreeTube
Step 2: Now wait for the installation process to complete, and when it is done, run the following command in the terminal to launch the application:
flatpak run io.freetubeapp.FreeTube
Step 3: You can now start using FreeTube on Ubuntu.
How To Remove/ Uninstall FreeTube From Ubuntu using Flatpak?
If you want to remove or uninstall FreeTube from Ubuntu using Flatpak, here is all that you need to do:
Step 1: Launch the terminal and run the following command:
flatpak uninstall io.freetubeapp.FreeTube
That’s it. You are done.
How To Use FreeTube?
To use FreeTube, here’s all that you need to do:
- Firstly, launch the FreeTube application on your desktop. To do so, go to the app menu, search for FreeTube, and click on it to launch.
- Now, on FreeTube, visit the Search/Go to URL box, click here, start typing whatever you want to watch, and press Enter.
- Now, locate the relevant option from the search results, click on it, and it will start playing. You can pause, play, forward, and backward the video as you do on YouTube.
- Users can also track their YouTube subscriptions in FreeTube without signing up to YouTube separately. Simply go to Search/Go to URL box, type the YouTube channel’s name you need to subscribe to, and press Enter.
Is FreeTube Free To Use?
Yes, FreeTube is an open-source application and completely free to use. This app allows users to browse YouTube more privately than browsing directly on the platform. FreeTube does not utilize the official YouTube API. Instead, it uses a method like Youtube-dl to parse the required data from the YouTube platform.
However, despite being a free-to-use open platform, FreeTube is privacy-focused. It blocks trackers, disables ads, and implements privacy features for a more secure and private environment.
Wrapping Up
This was all for Installing FreeTube Player on Ubuntu. We hope all the information above will help you easily install FreeTube Player.
Use FreeTube Player and enjoy a privacy-focused and ad-free YouTube experience. And since this platform is free to use, you may start immediately.
