Enjoy the music.
Find your way.

1. Install BlackYT

BlackYT is Android only and needs Android 8.0 or newer. iPhone and iPad support is planned for later, with no release date. The v0.6.0 release provides BlackYT-Android-v0.6.0.apk (versionCode 60).

1. Open the v0.6.0 release page and download BlackYT-Android-v0.6.0.apk under Assets. Do not choose the GitHub source-code ZIP.
2. Open Chrome's ⋮ → Downloads or Android Files → Downloads. Tap the APK once the download completes.
3. If Android asks for permission, on a Pixel go to Settings → Apps → Special app access → Install unknown apps → Chrome → Allow from this source. If Files opened the APK, choose Files. These labels vary by phone; the permission is only for the app that opens the file. Return to Downloads and tap the APK again. You can revoke the permission after installation. See Google Pixel install-from-source help.
4. Tap Install, then Open. Find the app named BlackYT. The older Chrome shortcut named BlackYT Phone needs Termux and is a separate legacy app.

Standard installation, including the owner's UK Pixel setup, does not need Developer options, USB debugging, root access, bootloader unlocking, or a custom certificate. USB debugging is only for developers installing or inspecting a test build. Do not disable Play Protect or ignore security warnings. If Android shows a Play Protect, unverified-developer, organization, work, or school block, stop and contact the maintainer or device administrator. Do not try to bypass it. See the Android developer verification FAQ.

While music plays, look for Android’s media controls. Their visibility depends on your notification and lock-screen settings. BlackYT needs internet access to search and stream, but does not need microphone, contacts, or photo access. No BlackYT or paid hosting account is needed. Mobile-data charges may apply through your carrier, and streaming uses battery. The app does not save songs for offline listening.

Try a short playback check

Play a song for about two minutes, lock the screen, and check that audio continues. If you added another song, you can also check whether it starts when the first finishes. An optional mobile-data check may use your data allowance.

2. Play your first song

1. Bottom navigation switches between Home, Search, Library, and Queue. Home shows the small mascot, Jump back in with up to 12 recent tracks, and colorful interest tiles that start real searches.
2. Recent-play history stores public track metadata and artwork references locally. Clear it using Home → More (⋮) → Clear listening history. The last eight search phrases are also stored locally with a Clear action. Version 0.6.0 adds named playlists and optional suggestions; suggestions are never added automatically.
3. Search with the compact field, its Search action, or the keyboard Search/Enter action. Choose Music or All videos; open Filters for optional include-any and exclude-any terms. Music classification depends on YT metadata and is not guaranteed. Search also includes Creators.
4. Load more adds further results up to 200 matches; use Load more for another page. Tap a result to play it immediately; Add appends it to the FIFO queue. The + button adds a song to your queue. In Queue, use × beside an upcoming song to remove it.
5. A miniplayer appears above bottom navigation only while a track is current. Tap it for full Now Playing; Back returns. The full player has seeking, Previous, Play/Pause, Next, Queue, and More (Stop and Retry). Swipe left on its artwork or the miniplayer to select the next queued song; swipe right for the previous one. Swiping at either end keeps you in the queue. Buttons show a pressed effect, and Starting feedback confirms a selection is loading.

The queue lasts only for the current app session. Recent tracks and search phrases are saved locally. There are no offline downloads or sign-in.

Use v0.5.0 discovery, Library and Explore

Historical v0.5.0 checks (tested with versionCode 50). The phone journey passed for shared-link preview and timestamped playback, Library resume after activity recreation, Wes Roth creator search and Videos paging, saving and reopening a creator, Explore add/edit, and muted screen-off playback. See verification-v0.5.0.json for final automated results.

Open a YT link without autoplay

1. In the YT app or another app, tap Share and choose BlackYT. You can also open a supported public video link with BlackYT from another app.
2. BlackYT shows a preview first. It does not start playing automatically; tap the video result when you are ready.
3. Supported shared links include youtu.be short links and start times. For example, t=205s means 3 minutes 25 seconds. The phone check confirmed the selected result started at 205 seconds.
4. If BlackYT is not offered by the other app, use Search and paste the link. Link availability still depends on YT and the extractor.

Find spoken episodes and creators

1. Open Search and choose All videos for talks, interviews, lectures, podcasts, music and other public videos. BlackYT does not automatically classify or label content as a podcast.
2. Choose Creators to search for a channel or show name. Open a creator to browse its Videos page and use Load more to continue through available results.
3. Use the bookmark on a creator page to save that creator in Your Library. Open the saved creator later to fetch its latest videos; an internet connection is needed. Use × beside it in Library to remove it.

Save episodes and return later

1. Tap the bookmark beside a search result or in Now Playing to save episode information in Your Library.
2. Open the Library tab and tap a saved episode to resume where you left off. Choose its options for Play from beginning, Add to queue, or Remove from Library.
3. When 30 seconds or less remain, the next resume starts from the beginning instead of the very end.
4. Saved episodes are links and listening progress, not downloaded audio. The Library and saved creators stay on this phone; there is no account or cloud sync. Uninstalling BlackYT or clearing its storage removes these saves and your custom Explore topics. Install updates over the existing app to keep them.

Make Explore your own

1. On Home, open Edit beside Explore.
2. Choose + Add a topic, enter a topic name and search phrase, choose whether to limit it to Music, then tap Save.
3. Select a topic to edit it, move it up or down, or remove it. Choose Restore defaults to replace your topics with the starter set.
4. Explore changes are saved locally on this phone.

Device check details: the shared t=205s link previewed without autoplay, and playback started at 205 seconds. The Library retained the saved position after its Activity was recreated. A Wes Roth creator search reached and paged Videos, saved the creator, then reopened its latest videos from Library. An added and edited Explore topic persisted and launched an All videos search. Media3 continued for 35 seconds with the activity finished and the screen locked/display off; BlackYT was muted during this check. This does not establish audible acceptance or support for every device.

Final release checks: 20 release unit tests and 14 phone instrumentation tests passed. Release lint reported zero errors and 19 warnings. A complete 208.564-second song finished naturally and advanced to the next queued track on mobile data. The complete two-minute sample stayed locked with the display asleep; both conditions still held at the next track. USB stayed connected, and BlackYT was muted. Saved progress, a creator and a custom Explore topic also survived a new app process. The installed APK matched the signed release byte for byte. These technical checks do not establish audible acceptance or support for other phones. Technical verification details.

Explore the new app

Music and spoken videos share the same player and queue. Use bookmarks for your Library and + for the current queue.

v0.5.0 app-owned view renders from the Pixel’s installed release, using public example content and isolated test data. No system, lock-screen, personal Library or other-app content is shown. Some views were laid out inside the app while the display slept; these are interface renders, not full-device screenshots. YT thumbnails belong to their respective rights holders.

Video audio language: If a video played in the wrong language, update to v0.5.1 and select it again. BlackYT prefers the creator’s original audio when YT identifies it, in any language. If that information is unavailable, an alternate track may be used. There is no manual audio-track selector.

3. Install future updates

1. Finish listening first: an update stops the running app, and the queue is not saved permanently.
2. Download BlackYT-Android-v0.6.0.apk from the official BlackYT release page.
3. Open it and choose Update or Install over the existing BlackYT. Do not uninstall first if you want to retain app data.
4. If Android reports a signature conflict, stop and ask the maintainer. Releases need the same signing key to update in place.

Your current app does not update itself automatically. Never download a replacement from an unrelated website. The current native APK is v0.5.0 (versionCode 50); use the release link at the top of this guide.

FAQ

Troubleshooting

Still need help?

Open a BlackYT support issue. Tell us your phone model, Android version, the exact message and the step you reached. A GitHub account is needed to post an issue, but not to download the app.

Do not post passwords, signing keys, account tokens, private messages or complete stream links. Cover personal details in screenshots. Search your phone’s Settings for “Android version” if you need to find it.

About BlackYT

BlackYT is an independent educational project. Its creator uses it to listen to songs they wrote and perform. The project aims to help students explore music regardless of socioeconomic circumstances, with fewer advertising interruptions and low running costs.

Disclaimer

BlackYT is an independent, unofficial educational project by Unsigned Media Ltd. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by YT, Google, NewPipe, LibreTube or Spotify.

This project should not be used to break the law. Respect copyright, licences, creators' and performers' rights, applicable platform terms and access restrictions. Educational purpose does not itself grant permission to reuse content or bypass restrictions. You are responsible for the material you access and how you use it.

Access, playback and an ad-free experience are not guaranteed. Third-party content retains its owners' rights; Library saves are metadata and progress, not offline audio. Applicable software licences remain unchanged. See the full disclaimer. Private questions or rights concerns: blackyt@streamit2.me.

Contribute to BlackYT

No coding experience is needed to report a problem, improve instructions, suggest accessibility improvements or test the app. The contribution guide explains GitHub issues, browser-based edits, forks, pull requests, build checks and licences. An offline HTML copy can be downloaded and shared. Contact: blackyt@streamit2.me.