Don’t want to pay for YouTube Premium? Morphe picks up where Revanced left off.

There are several notable alternatives to the official YouTube app, and Revanced is one of the most popular choices. However, a new third-party alternative is making waves online.

Several developers and contributors recently left the Revanced project and released the open-source Morphe app. Much like Revanced, Morphe patches and modifies the official YouTube APK to enable features that either require YouTube Premium or a browser add-on.

Some of the more notable features include SponsorBlock integration (skipping sponsored segments in videos), YouTube Dislike support, the ability to disable Shorts content on the homepage or in search results, swapping out thumbnails, and more. Most of these features are accessible via Settings > Morphe in the patched YouTube app.

Morphe is pretty easy to use and offers an intuitive UI. Once you’ve downloaded Morphe, you’ll be prompted to choose YouTube or YouTube Music for patching. From here, you’ll be asked to choose the original, unpatched APK (you’ll need YouTube v20.37.48 as of writing). Haven’t downloaded this APK yet? Then the app helpfully directs you to the relevant APKMirror download. Once you’ve chosen the relevant YouTube APK, Morphe patches the app and subsequently prompts you to install the modified APK. You’ll also be asked to install microG after launching the patched app for the first time.

It’s also worth noting that the patched YouTube app lives alongside the stock app and features its own distinct icon. You can even rename the patched app if you want.

Once you’ve opened the app and signed in to your Google account via microG, you’ll see that it’s mostly identical to the stock YouTube app. However, the biggest difference is that there’s no Shorts tab or plus icon in the patched app. Meanwhile, the modified app has a notifications tab in lieu of a notification bell at the top. The aforementioned Morphe section is also available in the settings menu, giving you many customization options for your viewing experience.

We’re not sure if Morphe will be around for very long, as I imagine Google won’t be happy with any apps that give Premium features to free users. Then again, Google didn’t seem to go after the Revanced team. Either way, I’m a Premium subscriber, but I still find these apps valuable as they have features that YouTube can’t or won’t implement. You can download the app and view more info on the Morphe website.