# Tubecasts: Background Player — Listen to Videos Anywhere

> Background audio player for YouTube videos and playlists. (iPhone/iPad app by Jianfeng Wu.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tubecasts-background-player/id6450131804 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Jianfeng Wu](https://appshunter.io/developer/1435210283)
- Category: Music, Entertainment
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 3.70/5 from 61 App Store ratings · 104 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 17+
- Requires: iOS 15.0 · 29 MB
- Languages: American English, Arabic, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French (France), German (Germany) and 23 more
- Released: 2023-07-05
- Data updated: 2026-08-21
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tubecasts-background-player/id6450131804/reviews.md

## What is Tubecasts?

Listen to your favorite YouTube playlists and videos in the background or in audio-only mode. Keep listening while using other apps or with your screen turned off, and reduce battery consumption with audio-only playback.

For more information on how the app works and how your data is used and protected, please refer to our service terms and privacy policy:
Service terms: https://drwjf.github.io/tca/terms.html
Privacy policy: https://drwjf.github.io/tca/privacy.html

## Key features

- Audio-only playback
- Background playback
- YouTube playlist support
- Screen and battery saver
- Video to audio conversion

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sponsorship | $0.69 | per 7 days |
| Sponsorship | $29.99 | per month |
| Sponsorship | $364.99 | per year |


## What do users think of Tubecasts?

Overall sentiment: negative

**Pros**

- 👍 Easy to navigate
- 👍 Great for background audio
- 👍 Good for sleep audio
- 👍 No ads (for some users)
- 👍 Can create playlists
- 👍 Can organize content
- 👍 Can download audio
- 👍 Works with CarPlay
- 👍 Offline playback
- 👍 Good concept
- 👍 Great app
- 👍 Effective
- 👍 Simple and clean UI
- 👍 No bloat
- 👍 Can switch between live streams
- 👍 Better than alternatives
- 👍 No need for YouTube Premium
- 👍 Works well
- 👍 Playback speed options
- 👍 Fair pricing (for some)
- 👍 Good for podcasts
- 👍 Very handy
- 👍 Excellent
- 👍 Super
- 👍 Convenient
- 👍 Used daily
- 👍 Phenomenal app
- 👍 Fantastic 'lite' app
- 👍 The goat
- 👍 Much better than other alternatives
- 👍 Perfect for sleep audio
- 👍 Favorite app for ad-free YouTube
- 👍 Good
- 👍 Excellent
- 👍 Great app
- 👍 Simple to use
- 👍 Effective
- 👍 Great
- 👍 Very handy
- 👍 Great app
- 👍 Works as advertised
- 👍 This App Slaps!
- 👍 Good app
- 👍 Buena
- 👍 Great app
- 👍 Works very well
- 👍 Simple to use, effective
- 👍 Great
- 👍 Very handy
- 👍 Great app
- 👍 Can listen without ads

**Cons**

- 😞 Cannot skip audio parts
- 😞 Too many pop-up prompts
- 😞 Audio keeps cutting
- 😞 Nearly unusable without paid version
- 😞 Manipulative UI
- 😞 Constantly nags
- 😞 Constantly fails
- 😞 Laughable subscription pricing
- 😞 Breaks the purpose of the app
- 😞 Stops mid-stream
- 😞 Features locked behind paywall
- 😞 Worse free version
- 😞 Stops to ask for subscription
- 😞 Pop-ups get in the way
- 😞 Onerous to use
- 😞 Spammy options forced
- 😞 Scam app pricing
- 😞 Unreasonable pricing
- 😞 YouTube premium is cheaper
- 😞 Shovelware apps
- 😞 Quantity over quality
- 😞 Prompts to subscribe/support other apps
- 😞 Nearly unusable
- 😞 Expensive subscription
- 😞 Unclear subscription pricing
- 😞 Buggy subscription pricing
- 😞 Video translated to another language
- 😞 Frustrating language issue
- 😞 Plays in a different language
- 😞 Episodes in foreign language
- 😞 Permanent reminders to upgrade
- 😞 Much trouble to work
- 😞 Cannot transfer music from old version
- 😞 Too expensive now
- 😞 Less options for file formats
- 😞 No downloads in free tier
- 😞 Poor execution
- 😞 Doesn't reliably remember place
- 😞 Fails to load on mobile data
- 😞 Buffers and fails to load
- 😞 Asks for review every time song added
- 😞 Old Tubecast was more powerful/better/cheaper
- 😞 New app doesn't save mp3
- 😞 Constant message to rate
- 😞 Subscription required for offline download
- 😞 Voluntary donation to subscription obligation
- 😞 Error adding songs
- 😞 No music! No sound!
- 😞 Playlist import doesn't work
- 😞 No auto-save feature
- 😞 Discontinued by Apple
- 😞 Takes ages to process long videos
- 😞 One-time payment version unavailable
- 😞 Paying for 12 months more expensive
- 😞 Stripped features from original app
- 😞 Can't roll back to previous version
- 😞 Playback error
- 😞 Constantly stops
- 😞 No response to play
- 😞 Previous version UI better

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Audio keeps cutting after every few mins
- Pauses audio stream randomly to ask to subscribe
- Player pauses every ten mins to ask for subscription
- Stops mid stream
- Failure to load
- Not working anymore
- Not working today
- Menus get in the way of user experience
- Constant popups to subscribe
- Pop up ads that stop the music
- Buggy and cumbersome to use
- Constant pop ups that get in the way of the UI
- Pauses the audio or distracts from browsing
- App struggles to remember place
- Frequently reverts back to the beginning of the video
- Completely fails to load when on mobile data
- Error: 'Failed to load'
- Does not reliably remember your place
- Does not work
- Buffers and then tells me that it failed to load
- Does not remember when it stopped playing
- Starts from the beginning
- Error 0 when adding songs
- No sound
- Doesn't work
- Playlist import doesn't work
- Error message « failed to get… »
- Playback error
- Constantly stops
- Doesn't have auto save feature
- Pause/stop then kill app, next time should auto play from last previous time
- Takes ages to process a seven hour long video
- Playback speed shown as 1x but actual speed is different
- Pause an episode, sometimes have to restart the app to make it play
- Starts from the beginning again
- Cannot skip to different parts of the audio
- Video gets translated into another language
- Plays in a different language when video is originally in English
- Episodes always play in a foreign language different than link on YouTube
- Doesn't remember place, recording starts from beginning each time
- Clicking play does not respond
- Does not play, plays in YouTube

**Most requested features**

- Add option for Airplay only audio
- Enable photos, videos, files and iCloud files import options
- Enable all audio file formats like Mp3, M4A and others
- Enable Mp4 file video formats
- Proper accessibility mode quicker done
- Download subtitles of foreign language in English version
- Include an option to cast audio to Google Nest
- Add auto-save feature
- Option to adjust button customization
- Import playlist functionality to be fixed
- Roll back to previous version

## Recent user reviews (10 of 104)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tubecasts-background-player/id6450131804/reviews.md

### 1/5 — BAD! Force me to subscribe to use!

*2026-06-30*

I bought this app many years ago, but I hadn’t used it for quite a while. When I recently started using it again, I realized I was being forced to subscribe just to keep using it. If I don’t subscribe, the audio stops every 10 minutes!!

This is a fraud. I paid for the app when I first bought it, and now you’re asking me to pay a monthly subscription as well???? That’s ridiculous!!!

### 5/5 — FIXED - Playlists Do Not Refresh

*2026-06-18, version 1.2.8*

EDIT: Thank you for the lightning fast turnaround in fixing this issue! Updating my rating now.


I have loved this app, but now when you try to update a playlist (or add a new one), an error message occurs stating, “Failed to get data by YouTube playlist”. 
I have confirmed there is not an update, and I have rebooted my phone, but nothing works. I am hopeful this is fixed, and I will gladly update my review.

### 4/5 — Almost

*2026-06-17*

This app is so close. The developers are very responsive to issues. Just a few tweaks in the performance would make it great. It’s very useful to me. I use it everyday. It’s my main source for audio content.

**Developer response:** Thank you for the feedback. Version 1.2.5 had an issue that prevented properly seeking within long audio files. This problem has been fixed in Version 1.2.6. Please update to the latest version and try again. Thank you for your support and patience!

### 1/5 — 399 Euro?

*2026-05-15*

Früher eine super App, heute leider voller Bugs. Wie unpassend dann den Jahrespreis von 9,99 auf 399 Euro anpassen zu wollen. App wird gelöscht, Abo ist gekündigt

**Developer response:** Einige Nutzer haben möglicherweise bemerkt, dass der Preis des alten Jahresabonnements auf 364,99 USD pro Jahr geändert wurde. Dieser Preis ist nicht als tatsächlich aktives Abonnementangebot vorgesehen.

Da noch bestehende Abonnenten mit dem alten Jahresabo-Produkt verknüpft sind, kann das Produkt nicht vollständig aus App Store Connect entfernt werden. Stattdessen wurde der Preis absichtlich erhöht, um neue Abonnements und Verlängerungen des eingestellten Jahresplans zu verhindern.

Das Jahresabonnement-Modell wurde eingestellt, da es schwierig geworden ist, eine unterbrechungsfreie langfristige Bereitstellung und Unterstützung über einen gesamten Jahreszeitraum zuverlässig zu gewährleisten. Vor einigen Monaten führten serverseitige Probleme zu mehreren Tagen Dienstunterbrechung, und diese Erfahrung führte dazu, langfristige Vorauszahlungs-Abonnements zu überdenken.

Die aktuelle Abonnementoption ist ein Wochenplan zum Preis von 0,69 USD pro Woche. Ziel ist es, die Preisgestaltung flexibel und fair zu halten, damit Nutzer ihr Abonnement jederzeit beenden können, falls der Dienst ihre Erwartungen nicht mehr erfüllt oder technische Probleme auftreten, anstatt an eine lange jährliche Verpflichtung gebunden zu sein.

Die App benötigt keine Benutzerkonten, sammelt keine E-Mail-Adressen von Abonnenten und verfolgt keine persönlichen Nutzerdaten. Aufgrund dieses datenschutzorientierten Designs gibt es keine direkte Möglichkeit, allen Abonnenten E-Mails über Änderungen am Abonnement zu senden. Updates und Diskussionen wurden jedoch in der Discord-Community veröffentlicht, auch wenn verständlich ist, dass diese Ankündigungen möglicherweise nicht alle Abonnenten erreichen.

Vielen Dank an alle langjährigen Nutzer und Unterstützer für ihr Verständnis und ihre fortgesetzte Unterstützung.

Zusätzlich bleibt ein Unterstützungsabonnement für 30 USD pro Monat für Nutzer verfügbar, die zusätzliche finanzielle Unterstützung für laufende Kosten, Wartung und zukünftige Entwicklung leisten möchten. Diese höherpreisige Option ist vollständig freiwillig und nicht erforderlich, um die normale Nutzung des Dienstes zu ermöglichen.

### 3/5 — Recent update

*2026-05-13*

You cannot skip to different parts of the audio. It’s very frustrating with long files

**Developer response:** Thank you for the feedback. Version 1.2.5 had an issue that prevented properly seeking within long audio files. This problem has been fixed in Version 1.2.6. Please update to the latest version and try again. Thank you for your support and patience!

### 4/5 — Update: problem fixed. Always plays link in different language

*2026-04-02, version 1.2.4*

Loved the original app. This one always plays the episodes in a foreign language different than what the link was on YouTube.  Disappointing.

Update: the language problem has been fixed. The app's been working great. My only complaint now is that I wish the playlist could be renamed, but I'm upping my rating.

### 1/5 — Will not work

*2026-03-22, version 1.2.4*

The old app was good. This one will only play one maybe two songs then stops.

### 1/5 — Not working anymore

*2026-03-04, version 1.2.2*

Not working today

### 1/5 — Nicht mehr ok

*2026-02-26*

Um das Abo zu verkaufen werden immer mehr Störungen eingeführt. Da das Abo überzogen ist wird das nichts werden.

**Developer response:** Vielen Dank für das Feedback. Die Abonnement-Pop-ups tragen zur Finanzierung laufender Kosten bei, darunter Server, Entwicklung und Wartung.

### 1/5 — App used to be great not anymore

*2026-02-06, version 1.2.2*

App used to be great but its now nearly unusable unless you get the paid version/‘make a donation’.
Way too many pop up prompts and audio keeps cutting after every few mins.

## Frequently asked questions about Tubecasts

### What does Tubecasts Air do?

Tubecasts Air allows you to play YouTube videos and playlists in audio-only mode. This enables background playback, meaning you can listen to content while using other apps or with your screen off, conserving battery and screen life.

### How does the audio-only feature work?

The app extracts the audio stream from YouTube videos, enabling you to listen to them like a podcast or music track. This feature is designed to significantly extend your device's screen and battery life by not requiring the video to be actively displayed.

### Is Tubecasts Air free to use?

The application is free to download and use. However, it does offer in-app purchases, suggesting there may be premium features or options available for users who wish to enhance their experience.

### What devices is Tubecasts Air compatible with?

While specific compatibility details are not provided in the description, it is designed as a mobile application, implying it is intended for smartphones and tablets. Users should check their respective app stores for precise operating system requirements.

### Can I listen to YouTube music with this app?

Yes, you can enjoy playing your favorite YouTube playlists and videos in audio-only mode. This makes it suitable for listening to music, podcasts, or any other audio content available on YouTube without needing to keep the video playing on screen.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.2.9 — 2026-07-30

Added support for iPad portrait mode

### 1.2.8 — 2026-06-15

Improved playlist import handling and fixed related issues.

### 1.2.7 — 2026-06-12

Added a new Recently Played tab to quickly return to casts you listened to before

### 1.2.6 — 2026-05-14

Fixed a bug where dragging the seek slider did not update playback position.

### 1.2.5 — 2026-05-05

Built with Xcode 26 and the iOS 26 SDK

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## More apps by Jianfeng Wu

- [ReadBible: Audio Bible Study](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/readbible-audio-bible-study/id1435210284)
- [USAMarket - Insider tracking](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/usamarket-insider-tracking/id1436749987)
- [Mapcasts: AM FM Radio](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mapcasts-am-fm-radio/id1437556716)
- [COMath: Math Practice Puzzles](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/comath-math-practice-puzzles/id1438026503)
- [TourTool - Interpreter & Guide](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tourtool-interpreter-and-guide/id1438695901)
- [SciQuiz: Science Quiz](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sciquiz-science-quiz/id1440078272)

All apps by Jianfeng Wu: https://appshunter.io/developer/1435210283

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-21.*