SmartTubeNext – How to Install Ad-Free YouTube on FireStick

This article shows you how to install SmartTubeNext on FireStick. SmartTubeNext is an easy way to watch YouTube on FireStick without being interrupted by ads. This article applies to all Amazon Fire TV devices, like FireStick 4K and 4K Max, Fire TV Cube, New FireStick 4K, New FireStick 4K Max, and FireStick Lite.

What Is SmartTubeNext?

SmartTubeNext (STN), previously known as SmartYouTubeTV, is an advanced YouTube app for Android TVs and TV boxes. It gives you the YouTube experience but without the ads. It’s 100% free and open source.

As SmartTubeNext isn’t an official app, it won’t be available in app stores, so we’ll be sideloading it in this guide.

SmartTubeNext is supported on Android TV, Google TV, Xiaomi Mi Box, Fire TV, Nvidia Shield, and other Android-based TV boxes. It doesn’t support any TVs that are not based on Android, nor does it support any non-TV devices.

Attention, FireStick Users!

Governments and ISPs constantly monitor your online activity, and accessing copyrighted content on your Fire TV Stick could lead to serious trouble. Currently, your IP is visible to everyone. I strongly recommend getting the best FireStick VPN to mask your IP address and securely stream your favorites.

I personally use ExpressVPN, the fastest and most secure VPN available. Not only is it easy to install on any device, it comes with a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee. Plus, if you're not 100% satisfied, you can always get a refund. ExpressVPN is currently also offering a whopping 3 extra months free on their annual plan!

Here are reasons why using a VPN at all times is essential.

Read: How to Install and Use Best VPN for FireStick

Is SmartTubeNext Safe & Legal?

Before I show you how to install SmartTubeNext on your FireStick, let’s discuss the app’s safety and legality.

SmartTubeNext is an open-source TV app created by an independent developer on Github. Being open-source makes It a somewhat safer third-party app. However, it’s not officially available on any app stores, which may be uncomfortable for some users.

To be safe, I ran the file for SmartTubeNext through VirusTotal. As you can see, the file should be safe for your device.

Although SmartTubeNext doesn’t stream content from illegal sources, its being a third-party YouTube clone may still raise legal concerns. It uses the YouTube API to deliver content while blocking the ads YouTube intends to deliver, which may or may not be crossing legal boundaries.

To be safe, you can install a VPN on your FireStick. A VPN is the best way to keep your data and streaming private. It prevents your internet service provider from monitoring your FireStick activity.

How to Install SmartTubeNext on FireStick

I divided the installation instructions into two parts so you can easily follow along and install SmartTubeNext on your FireStick.

Legal Disclaimer: This tutorial is purely educational. FireStickTricks.com doesn’t own, host, operate, resell, or distribute any streaming apps, addons, websites, IPTV or services. The page contains some unverified services, and we are not certain whether they hold legal licenses to distribute the content. FireStickTricks.com does not verify the legality of each app/service in all regions. Do your due diligence if you use any of the unverified apps/services, and stream only content that is available in the public domain. The end-user shall be solely responsible for the media accessed.

Part 1: Prepare FireStick to Download SmartTubeNext

Since SmartTubeNext isn’t in the Amazon App Store, we’ll sideload it, which means we’ll download it from a third-party website. Before you can sideload an app, you must get Downloader on your FireStick and change a setting called unknown sources.

If you haven’t set up Downloader on your device, follow this guide before moving on.

When your FireStick is prepared, go ahead and follow the next steps.

Part 2: Install SmartTubeNext on FireStick

1. On your FireStick remote, long-press the home button for several seconds until this menu pops up. Then, select Apps.

2. Open Downloader.

Note: Can’t see the Downloader tile? Check for it in the App Library tile at the bottom.

3. Select the box under Enter a URL or Search Term.

Note: On the first launch of the Downloader app, Allow access to your files and folders.

4. Enter https://smartyoutubetv.github.io and click on the Go button.

Note: The SmartTubeNext developer uploads the file to Github. FireStickTricks.com does not host or distribute app files.

5. When the website is done loading, scroll down.

6. Click Stable release located under the Downloads heading.

Note: You could download the Beta release instead, but I don’t recommend it, as it will probably have bugs.

7. Wait for Downloader to download the file on your FireStick.

8. Once the file is downloaded, click INSTALL.

9. When the installation is complete, click DONE.

10. Downloader will ask you what you want to do with the APK file. You don’t need it anymore since you just used it to install SmartTubeNext. Click on the Delete button.

11. Select Delete once again.

Congratulations, you have successfully installed the SmartTubeNext app on your FireStick.

As I mentioned, the app may cross legal lines by disabling ads on YouTube’s API, so you may want to get ExpressVPN on your FireStick to make your streaming private, just in case.

You can follow these steps to get it quickly and easily:

Step 1: Subscribe to ExpressVPN HERE. It comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Meaning, you can use it free for the first 30-days and if you are not satisfied with the performance (which is highly unlikely), you can ask for a full refund.

Step 2: Power ON your Fire TV Stick and go to Find followed by Search option.

Step 3: Now type “Expressvpn” (without quotes) in the search bar and select ExpressVPN when it shows up in the search results.

Step 4: Click Download to install the ExpressVPN app on Fire TV / Stick.

Step 5: Open the app and enter the login credentials that you created while buying the ExpressVPN subscription. Click Sign in.

Step 6: Click the Power icon to connect to a VPN server. That’s all. Your connection is now secure with the fastest and best VPN for FireStick.

You can also read more detailed info on using ExpressVPN with Fire TV / Stick.

How to Use SmartTubeNext on FireStick

Long-press the home button on your FireStick remote until the menu appears. After that, select Apps.

Want to create a shortcut to SmartTubeNext on your FireStick home screen? Scroll to SmartTubeNext without selecting it. Then, press the options button (three horizontal lines) on your FireStick remote and select Move to front. For more details, read my full guide on creating FireStick home screen shortcuts.

If you want to launch the app, click the SmartTubeNext tile. If you can’t find SmartTubeNext, you’ll find it within the App Library tile.

On the first launch of the SmartTubeNext app, you’ll be given the option to enable voice search. Enable it if you want. If you’re not interested, you can prevent the message from showing again.

After that, you’ll land on SmartTubeNext’s home screen. The app’s interface resembles YouTube.

Press the left button on your FireStick remote to bring up the side menu. Then, select a section like Gaming.

Inside it, you’ll see rows like Recommended, Top live games, Trending videos, and more. Other side menu sections are organized into similar rows.

To play a video on SmartTubeNext, simply select it.

After a few seconds, the video will start playing.

Press the play/pause or down button on your FireStick remote to bring up the video player options.

You’ll see two options: play/pause, rewind/forward, search, share, video quality, like, subtitles, and add to the playlist.

Scroll down to see suggestions and videos from similar channels you might like.

To find your favorite video quickly, you can use the search function on SmartTubeNext. To do so, bring up the side menu on SmartTubeNext and click the magnifying glass icon at the top left.

Next, select the search bar.

After that, enter your search term and click Next.

You’ll arrive at the search results after a few seconds. Select something from the search results to watch it.

Finally, there is a Settings tab on the side menu. The app’s settings are further broken into categories like Accounts, Subtitles, and Language/Country.

Wrapping Up

In this article, I showed you how to install SmartTubeNext on FireStick and how to browse the app. For people who are tired of frequently seeing ads on YouTube, SmartTubeNext is the way forward.

If you have any questions about installing SmartTubeNext or would like to suggest something, please comment. As always, happy cord-cutting!

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Legal Disclaimer - FireStickTricks.com does not verify the legality or security of any add-ons, apps or services mentioned on this site. Also, we do not promote, host or link to copyright-protected streams. We highly discourage piracy and strictly advise our readers to avoid it at all costs. Any mention of free streaming on our site is purely meant for copyright-free content that is available in the Public domain. Read our full disclaimer.

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