# Tubular 11 Hacker News commenters recommended Tubular and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Free NewPipe fork for Android that adds built-in SponsorBlock and ad blocking to YouTube playback. Critics say it sometimes breaks when YouTube changes and fixes come slowly. ## Why people recommend it - Built-in SponsorBlock (3 comments): "a NewPipe fork that has built-in SponsorBlock and ReturnYouTubeDislike features" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46834921)) "I mostly use a fork called Tubular that has sponsored block" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47020880)) "I use Tubular because of sponsorblock." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47024190)) - Built-in ad blocking (3 comments): "I use freetube for Linux and Tubular for android, so no ads at all." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46189582)) "because it has built-in ad block, and it can skip silence" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48131831)) "Tubular app does, and it blocks ads" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48019712)) ## What people warn about - Playback breaks, slow fixes (3 comments): "Tubular is great. Though they sometimes take a while to fix playback issues" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46837078)) "I just accepted that in exchange for it working some of the time." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49890201)) "Tubular reliably broke every single month when YouTube changes something" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49861035)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [NewPipe](https://hackerapproved.com/p/newpipe.md): 113 recommend - [SmartTube](https://hackerapproved.com/p/smarttube.md): 41 recommend - [FreeTube](https://hackerapproved.com/p/freetube.md): 28 recommend - [Grayjay](https://hackerapproved.com/p/grayjay.md): 16 recommend - [YouTube ReVanced](https://hackerapproved.com/p/youtube-revanced.md): 14 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Tubular", https://hackerapproved.com/p/tubular/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).