Follow creators across platforms.

Grayjay is a video player and source aggregator built by FUTO. You install plugins for the platforms you use — YouTube, Twitch, Rumble, Odysee, Patreon, Nebula, and others — and Grayjay combines them into a single feed. Your subscriptions, playlists, and watch history stay on your device, not on someone else's server.

We don't host or distribute any content. Grayjay connects directly to the platforms you choose.

The app works identically whether you pay or not — no paywall, no feature gating, no trial period. Grayjay has a one-time license fee.

If you choose to pay, you're funding development directly instead of through ads or data collection.

Grayjay's source code is publicly available and auditable on GitLab. You can read every line, compile it yourself, and verify our privacy claims.

However, Grayjay uses FUTO's "Source First" license, not a traditional open-source license like GPL or MIT. You can review, compile, and distribute the code non-commercially, but you can't redistribute it commercially. This prevents others from repackaging our work and selling it while we fund development.

We know this doesn't meet the OSI's strict definition of "open source." We call it source available. The code is transparent. The business model is honest.

Your playlists, subscriptions, settings, watch history, and downloaded videos are stored locally on your device. We never access, transmit, or store any of this on our servers.

The only data Grayjay sends to FUTO is a minimal telemetry packet at startup: app version, OS version, a randomly generated identifier (not linked to your identity or device), and phone model. This helps us understand crash rates and prioritize OS support.

If you purchase a license, we collect your country (and postal code for US/Canada) for tax calculation.

Grayjay is not an ad blocker, and it does not intentionally show platform ads as a creator-support feature.

In some cases, ads may not appear because content is loaded through a plugin rather than through the platform's normal app or website experience. That behavior is a side effect of how access works, not a feature Grayjay promises or markets.

Grayjay is built and distributed by FUTO. You should only download it from the official Grayjay website or official FUTO sources. Do not install APKs or builds from random mirrors.

If you want to inspect the code yourself, Grayjay's source is available on GitLab.

• Android — Direct APK download, Google Play, and F-Droid (via FUTO repo)
• Windows — Installer or portable .zip
• Linux — .zip archive, also available as Flatpak on Flathub
• macOS — Apple Silicon (arm64) and Intel (x64) builds

Desktop downloads: Grayjay download section

Not in the foreseeable future. Apple's App Store policies and the technical constraints of iOS make it impractical to build the kind of plugin-based, platform-agnostic app that Grayjay is. Our focus is on making the Android and desktop experiences excellent.

If you're not sure, download Universal — it works on all Android devices. The architecture-specific builds (arm64-v8a, armeabi-v7a, x86_64, x86) are smaller downloads because they only contain code for one processor type. Most modern phones use arm64-v8a.

Android: Grayjay checks for updates and prompts you automatically. If the update fails with a "generic way" error, download the latest APK directly from grayjay.app and install it manually.

Desktop: The built-in updater handles updates. If it fails, download a fresh copy from the download section on grayjay.app.

Linux Flatpak: Updates are managed by Flatpak — run flatpak update or use your software center.

Sources are plugins that connect Grayjay to video platforms. Each supported platform — YouTube, Twitch, Rumble, Odysee, Patreon, Nebula, Kick, PeerTube, SoundCloud, Bilibili, and more — has its own plugin. You enable the ones you want, and Grayjay aggregates content from all of them.

On mobile, you can install plugins by scanning QR codes from the plugin page or tapping "Open in Grayjay" links in your browser.

Browse plugins: Plugins page

No. You can watch content from most platforms without logging in. However, logging in enables:

• Importing your existing subscriptions and playlists
• Accessing paid or membership content (Patreon, Nebula, SubscribeStar)
• Getting platform-specific recommendations on your Home tab
• Viewing age-restricted content

Go to Sources → tap the platform → log in → tap Import Subscriptions. The same flow works for playlists via Import Playlists.

YouTube limits imports to approximately 1,000 subscriptions through its interface. If you have more, use Google Takeout to export your full subscription list, then import the file into Grayjay.

From NewPipe: Export your subscriptions as JSON from NewPipe, then open that file with Grayjay.

Your Home feed should be based on the sources and creators you follow. If something looks random, a plugin may be surfacing channel or platform content differently than you expect, or you may be seeing content from creators you forgot you followed.

Grayjay shows a chronological feed of content from creators you follow, with no algorithm involved.

When you subscribe to a creator, Grayjay stores their channel metadata locally on your device. The Subscriptions feed shows videos from all your subscribed creators in reverse-chronological order, with live and upcoming streams pinned to the top. No algorithm, no curation — just your creators' content in order.

The Subscriptions tab only appears once you have at least one subscription. If you don't see it, check under More — it may have been moved if you customized your tab order. You can manage tab visibility in Settings → Manage Tabs.

Search behavior depends on which tab you're on. From Home or Subscriptions, it searches for videos across all enabled sources. From Playlists, it searches your playlists. From Creators, it searches for channels.

You can filter results by clicking the filter button to disable specific sources. As you narrow the active sources, additional filter options may become available.

The recommended way is to use the FCast Receiver app, available for Android TV, desktop, and other devices at fcast.org. FCast supports all features.

Chromecast also works, but requires your phone to proxy streams for any content with separate video and audio tracks.

AirPlay is not currently supported in Grayjay. Supporting it reliably would require ongoing work against Apple-specific behavior and protocol differences, and the team is not maintaining that path right now. For TV playback, use FCast where supported.

Open Grayjay on both devices. Go to Sync on the device you want to send data from — a QR code will appear. Scan it with the other device, then accept the sync request.

Sync transfers subscriptions, playlists, settings, and history. Plugin-specific settings may need separate configuration per device. Be aware that resolution defaults differ between mobile and desktop — syncing may override your per-device preferences.

Sync is the most common support issue. Work through this checklist:

1. Disable your VPN on both devices. VPNs interfere with local network discovery — this is the #1 cause of sync failures.
2. Both devices must be on the same WiFi network.
3. Ensure port 12315 isn't blocked by your firewall or security software.
4. If sync was working before but stopped, unlink the devices and set up sync again.
5. Restart both apps after enabling sync settings.

Internet-based relay sync is in development but not yet reliable in all configurations.

Yes, for watching content. However, disable your VPN when setting up device sync — VPNs interfere with the local network discovery that sync relies on. Once sync is established, VPN usage for general browsing works fine, though some users report intermittent issues.

If YouTube shows bot-detection prompts while using a VPN, try logging into the YouTube source or switching VPN servers.

YouTube frequently changes its streaming infrastructure, which can temporarily break third-party clients. If videos won't play:

1. Check for plugin updates: Sources → YouTube → update if available.
2. Update Grayjay to the latest version.
3. Try logging into the YouTube source — some streams require authentication.
4. If on mobile data, try WiFi — some carriers throttle video streams.

This is often a temporary issue resolved with plugin updates. Follow @FUTOgrayjay for announcements about YouTube-related fixes.

Google sometimes flags third-party clients as automated traffic, especially when using a VPN. Logging into the YouTube source usually resolves this. If it persists, try opening the login page and clicking a few links (privacy policy, help, etc.) to satisfy the bot check, then retry.

Go to Settings → Import/Export to create a backup. You can export as a standard .zip or an encrypted .ezip (auto-backups use the encrypted format). Store these files somewhere safe — if you reinstall or move to a new device, you can restore from them.

Your license key was emailed to you when you purchased. To use the same license on desktop, you'll need the key from that email. Check Settings in the app for your current license status.

• Windows: ~/AppData/Grayjay (or ~/Grayjay if that directory exists from an older version)
• Linux: Checks in priority order: ~/Grayjay → $XDG_DATA_HOME/Grayjay → ~/.local/share/Grayjay. Creates ~/Grayjay if none exist.
• macOS: Application support directory

The Flatpak on Flathub is community-maintained but built from official FUTO source code. It is a legitimate distribution channel. Note that in the Flatpak version, the built-in updater is disabled — updates are handled through Flatpak instead.

Visit pluginhost.grayjay.app/peertube, enter the URL of your PeerTube instance, then click "Open in Grayjay" to install it as a plugin.

Polycentric is a decentralized social protocol that gives you ownership of your comments and ratings. Unlike platform comments — which the platform controls and can delete — Polycentric comments are owned by you and stored independently. They're censorship-resistant and platform-independent.

You can toggle between platform comments and Polycentric comments in the video player. Learn more at polycentric.io.

Harbor is a service that lets creators prove they own accounts on multiple platforms. Once linked through Harbor, users who subscribe to any one of a creator's channels will see all their linked channels in Grayjay.

Creators can use Harbor to link identities, connect directly with their audience, and access monetization pathways. Learn more at harbor.social.

Yes. Grayjay plugins are written in JavaScript and are cross-compatible between Android and desktop.

• Plugin development docs
• Additional documentation

• GitLab (primary)
• GitHub mirror — Android (issue tracking)
• GitHub mirror — Desktop (issue tracking)

• Android bugs: github.com/futo-org/grayjay-android/issues
• Desktop bugs: github.com/futo-org/Grayjay.Desktop/issues
• In-app: Settings → Show Issues (Android) or the feedback button
• Community chat: chat.futo.org
• Email: grayjay@futo.org