Fed up with YouTube Music on desktop? This unofficial open-source client offers a fix

Among other limitations, YouTube Music has long faced criticism for its glaring lack of an official, dedicated desktop client. In fact, things have become frustrating enough that users frequently rely on browser extensions just to get basic functionality. If you’re tired of waiting for Google to release an official app and don’t mind taking matters into your own hands, there’s a new unofficial YouTube Music desktop client in town that warrants your attention.

YTubic by NUber-dev claims to be a fast, responsive YouTube Music desktop client for Windows, built in response to the sluggish webview-wrapper experience of existing third-party alternatives (since there is no first-party app at all). Instead of just wrapping the heavy official website, YTubic claims to communicate directly with YouTube’s InnerTube API. Combined with aggressive prefetching and local caching, the result is said to be an incredibly snappy interface that eliminates the constant loading spinners and page reloads that plague other experiences.

Beyond sheer speed, YTubic introduces several highly requested features. Listeners can choose between flexible layouts, such as docking the player at the bottom or as a right-side panel, or even pop out a compact, floating mini-player widget that always stays on top while working. It also integrates line-by-line synced lyrics sourced from LRCLIB, Musixmatch, and Genius, and automatically upgrades album covers to high-resolution studio art when available.

Under the hood, the YTubic client uses the ubiquitous open-source “yt-dlp” tool to handle anonymous audio streaming. The developer explicitly notes that signing in with a Google account is completely optional. Users who choose to remain anonymous can still browse and stream music freely, while those who log in gain full access to their existing libraries, likes, and custom playlists.

Currently, YTubic is available exclusively for Windows 10 and 11. The app is entirely free, claims not to collect telemetry, and is licensed under the GPL-3.0 license. As a disclaimer, the developer claims to be a UI/UX Designer with a decade of experience, though they did use Claude for help with the code. However, for weary YouTube Music subscribers looking for a cleaner, faster way to listen on PC and don’t mind a vibe-coded app, this community-driven client might just be the breath of fresh air they’ve been waiting for.