NewPipe is a popular open-source YouTube client that shot to popularity during the pandemic. The app lets you enjoy ad-free YouTube videos without having to pay for YouTube Premium. It's also a perfect alternative for the main YouTube app for devices that don't have Google Play Services installed — Huawei phones, for example. The app has gained quite a few features and improvements over the last few months. However, a few days ago the app stopped working completely all of a sudden for many users. Thankfully, the NewPipe team has issued a hotfix that addresses this bug.

In a recent blog post, the team announced the release of NewPipe 0.21.16, which fixes the video player decryption bug that broke the app. The team says this happened because YouTube recently changed a parameter in their video player decryption. In any case, the bug has been resolved and if the app has been broken for you, you should download this brand new update right away.

"We are very sorry about this, but YouTube changed a parameter in their video player decryption and the code we created to decrypt the input from YouTube broke. @AbduAmeen created a fix together with @SebastianSong, and @TobiGr worked with them to get it merged in the Extractor. Thanks to all three of them for doing this so quickly," wrote the NewPipe team in a blog post.

To download NewPipe 0.21.16, head to Update settings in the app and click on the "Check for updates" button. Alternatively, you can also download the latest version from F-Droid or NewPipe’s GitHub page.

NewPipe has steadily picked up new features over time. In the last few updates, the app has received features like the ability to stream DRM-free music, YouTube chapter support, an "Add to playlist" option, description snippets, and much more.