A controller-first YouTube client for Windows HTPCs. It recreates the feel of SmartTube on the desktop: a 10-foot, TV-style interface you drive entirely with a game controller (or the keyboard) - no browser, no mouse.
Built on Electron and youtubei.js (YouTube's private InnerTube API), with a companion Android remote for navigation and sending links to the big screen.
CouchTube exists because Windows never had a good way to enjoy YouTube from the couch. As an HTPC user myself, I wanted to browse and watch on the big screen with just a controller - no browser, no keyboard, no mouse. So I built one.
I also wrote the CouchTube Remote companion app for Android. It turns your phone into a simple remote for CouchTube, and it lets you send any YouTube link straight to your HTPC - tap share, and it plays on the screen.
Like my other projects, CouchTube is free. I'm releasing it on my son Mihajlo's second birthday, so in a way it's a present for everyone.
- TV-style interface - categorised home feed, horizontal shelves, and a left rail, all navigable with geometry-based spatial focus (D-pad friendly).
- Full controller + keyboard control - Gamepad API navigation with tap vs long-press, plus a complete keyboard fallback. Bindings are remappable.
- Google sign-in - the TV device-code flow. Home, Subscriptions, History, Watch Later and playlists all become personalized once you sign in.
- Multiple accounts - a "Who's watching" startup picker with full per-account isolation, plus a persistent Guest profile.
- High-quality playback - DASH via Shaka Player with SABR streaming (1080p/4K, correct seeking), classic streams as a fallback, and live streams via YouTube's DASH manifest.
- SponsorBlock - skip sponsor, intro, and other segments, with per-category settings and an optional "ask before skip" mode.
- DeArrow and Return YouTube Dislike style data - de-clickbaited titles and real dislike counts.
- Live chat and comments - read-only panels for both, docked to the side.
- On-screen keyboard with search autocomplete and history.
- Background playback and a queue - keep browsing while audio plays, with a now-playing mini-player in the rail.
- Video downloads - powered by yt-dlp and ffmpeg, with quick and advanced options, format and container selection, and a download queue.
- Deep settings mirroring SmartTube - interface, player controls and button layout, subtitles, search, SponsorBlock, language/country, theming (colour presets and accents), an on-screen clock, backup/restore, and more.
- HTPC niceties - launch on Windows startup, single-instance, run in the system tray, start minimized, and pre-roll / post-roll shell commands.
- One-click updates - check for, download, and install new versions from inside the app (Settings > About). No reinstalling by hand.
- CouchTube Remote companion support - pair a phone over the LAN (QR or PIN) to navigate, type, control playback, and push links to the screen.
The companion app pairs with CouchTube over your local network (scan a QR code or type a PIN - no accounts, no cloud). Once paired it acts as a D-pad remote, a keyboard for search, and a playback controller with a now-playing readout. Its best trick: share a YouTube link to it and the video plays on your HTPC - the window comes to the front, goes fullscreen, and starts playing. You can also send CouchTube to fullscreen or hide it back to the tray from your phone.
The Android app lives in its own repository.
Download the latest CouchTube-<version>-win-x64.zip, extract it anywhere, and
run CouchTube.exe. It is fully portable - all data (accounts, settings,
downloads) is stored next to the executable, and it downloads the optional
yt-dlp, ffmpeg, and deno binaries beside itself the first time you use the
download feature.
npm install
npm start
Requires Node.js 18+. CouchTube starts fullscreen (F11 toggles).
CouchTube updates itself. Open Settings > About > Check for updates; when a
newer version is available, choose Download update and watch the progress.
When it finishes you can Restart now to apply it, or just keep watching - the
update installs automatically the next time you close CouchTube, and the app
reopens on the new version. Your accounts, settings, downloads, and the optional
yt-dlp / ffmpeg / deno binaries are all kept. No manual re-extracting.
If you turn on Notify me about updates (Settings > About), CouchTube also tells you at launch when a new version is out.
| Action | Gamepad (Xbox layout) | Keyboard |
|---|---|---|
| Move focus | D-pad / left stick | Arrow keys |
| Select | A | Enter |
| Back | B | Esc |
| Context menu | Long-press A | (long-press) |
| Play / pause | X or Start | Space |
| Seek +/-10s | LB/LT and RB/RT | , and . |
| Fullscreen | - | F11 |
Controller and keyboard bindings can be remapped per account in Settings.
From the rail choose Sign in. A code appears; enter it at
google.com/device on your phone. Credentials are stored (DPAPI-encrypted) in
the portable Data folder next to the executable and restored on next launch.
Sign-in uses YouTube's TV device-code flow (the same one SmartTube uses). It is the one login path YouTube leaves open to third parties. Video streams themselves are fetched anonymously.
All YouTube API work runs in the Electron main (Node) process, so the renderer stays a lightweight TV UI talking to it over IPC - the same architecture FreeTube pioneered.
src/main/index.js Electron main: window, tray, IPC endpoints, CORS handlers
src/main/innertube.js Data layer: youtubei.js sessions, TV OAuth, feeds, streams
src/main/companion.js LAN WebSocket server for the CouchTube Remote app
src/main/sponsorblock.js, potoken.js, volume.js, logger.js, system.js
src/preload.js contextBridge: the minimal window.tv API
src/renderer/ vanilla-JS TV UI (native ES modules, no framework)
gamepad.js Gamepad API -> 'tvinput' events (keyboard fallback)
nav.js geometry-based spatial focus
app.js playback core, input router, boot glue
sabr.js + vendor/googlevideo.js SABR streaming adapter beside Shaka
npm run dist
Runs the SABR bundle build (npm run build:sabr) and then
electron-builder --win zip, producing dist/CouchTube-<version>-win-x64.zip.
CouchTube talks to YouTube's private InnerTube API, the same way SmartTube and FreeTube do. It is unofficial and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by YouTube or Google. It can break whenever Google changes their API. Because sign-in uses a Google account, there is a nonzero account risk (as with any such client) - consider using a secondary account. All YouTube names, logos, and trademarks belong to Google.
CouchTube stands on a lot of excellent open-source work. Thank you to:
- SmartTube by Yuriy Liskov - the design this project recreates on the desktop, used with the author's kind permission for the design. The re-implementation is original code.
- youtubei.js and googlevideo by LuanRT - the InnerTube client and the SABR streaming layer that make playback possible.
- Shaka Player by Google - DASH/adaptive playback.
- FreeTube - the reference for the main-process architecture and many hard-won InnerTube lessons.
- SponsorBlock and
DeArrow by Ajay Ramachandran and contributors
- segment skipping and de-clickbaiting.
- Return YouTube Dislike - dislike counts.
- yt-dlp, ffmpeg, and Deno - the download pipeline.
- Electron, ws, bonjour-service, and esbuild - the app shell, LAN transport, and build tooling.
CouchTube is free software licensed under the
GNU General Public License v3.0 or later. See the LICENSE file
for the full text.