ProsperoTube

An unofficial port of SmartTube for PS5 homebrew.
Browse, search and watch YouTube on the console with no computer involved.

Note

First release: 1.000.000 (content version 01.000.000). An early release: please report problems through GitHub issues.

_{Afterglow's Home, drawn on a PC by the interface's test harness with invented sample videos and channels.}

Highlights

• Self-sufficient. The YouTube service runs inside the app (YouTube.js on QuickJS-NG), with no computer, companion or Google API key.
• Native playback. Video streams straight from YouTube's servers to the PS5 hardware decoders: AVC, VP9 and HEVC up to 2160p, HDR, and AV1 in software.
• Two interfaces. Afterglow, a new console-first interface in four looks, and the complete Classic browser.
• Guest or signed in. Everything browses without an account; YouTube accounts sign in on the console with a device code.
• More. Phone casting, SponsorBlock, DeArrow, local profiles and 21 interface languages besides English.

Important

ProsperoTube does not run on an unmodified retail console. It is intended for consoles you own with an already configured, compatible homebrew loader. This repository does not include an exploit, proprietary Sony SDK, system module, encryption key, firmware file, or game asset.

Project foundation

Important

An unofficial port of SmartTube. ProsperoTube brings SmartTube's TV-first browsing, player and settings to the PS5 as a native app; parity tracks every SmartTube feature. It is written for the console rather than translated from SmartTube's Android code: no SmartTube source is incorporated beyond its list of blocked live-chat author names. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the SmartTube project.

Important

Follows the approach of FreeTube. Like FreeTube, ProsperoTube reads YouTube without an account or API key through YouTube.js. None of FreeTube's code or assets is included.

Important

Built on EVO Player. The pinned PS5 media player supplies playback, hardware decoding, audio and packaging. The EVO layer (scripts/prepare_native.py and its overlays) applies ProsperoTube's changes to a generated copy at build time.

Important

The YouTube service is YouTube.js on QuickJS-NG. It runs inside eboot.bin, with libcurl and OpenSSL for HTTPS; see standalone/.

Important

Afterglow is drawn with ps5-homebrew-ui. The UI kit, its fonts and sound sets are a pinned build input, not copied into this repository.

Important

Native foundations from PS5 Native App Boilerplate and the PS5 video and audio research. The update check, self-update helper and console libcurl support come from the boilerplate; the research repositories were the decoder references.

Important

Uses SponsorBlock and DeArrow. When turned on, the app asks these community services by Ajay Ramachandran and contributors for segments, titles and thumbnails. Nothing is submitted.

The elevation client follows ProsperoEden and ProsperoTV, and the entropy reader and self-exit ProsperoLight. Every source, version and licence is listed in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.

Identity	Value
Shell title	ProsperoTube
Title ID	PPSA99012
Category	Media
Version / content version	1.000.000 / 01.000.000
Writable data	/data/prosperotube

Features

Browsing and search

• Search with suggestions, history and filters; video, playlist and channel links are accepted.
• Home, Discover (topics, Gaming, News, Music, Sports, Live, Movies, Trending, Shorts, Kids) and a Live now shelf.
• Channels with their sections, sort orders and in-channel search; playlists and related videos.
• Comments with replies, live chat and chat replay.

Playback

• AVC, VP9 and HEVC through the PS5 hardware decoders up to 2160p, and AV1 in software.
• HDR output for PQ and HLG videos, and automatic frame-rate switching to match the video.
• Live streams with rewind, including a remembered position in the live window.
• Per-video quality and audio track (dubs, original, described audio) in the playback options.
• Captions, including YouTube's automatic and auto-translated tracks, a second language at once and caption styles.
• Speed from 0.25x to 4x, chapters, storyboard seek preview, sleep timer, zoom, aspect and audio delay.
• Up next, seven end-of-video modes and recovery after stream failures.
• Keep a video playing as audio while browsing in Afterglow (experimental).

Accounts

• Sign-in with a device code on the console; up to eight account profiles next to Guest.
• Subscriptions, notifications, YouTube history, Watch later, playlists and own videos.
• Like, subscribe, Watch later and playlist edits, each reviewed before it is sent.

Casting and integrations

• Phone casting from the YouTube app with a TV code (experimental).
• SponsorBlock with per-category actions, skip review and Undo; DeArrow titles and thumbnails.
• Optional dislike counts from Return YouTube Dislike (off by default).

Interface and your data

• Afterglow (preview) and Classic interfaces; Afterglow, Onyx, Daybreak and High contrast themes.
• The interface in 21 languages besides English, following the PS5 system language.
• Local profiles with history, resume, favorites, followed channels and an ordered queue.
• Backups, automatic backup, and subscriptions import from NewPipe, PocketTube or GrayJay.
• Physical keyboard typing in Afterglow's search and text fields.
• Update offers and in-place self-update through homebrew.page.

_{Afterglow's Search and player controls, drawn by the same PC test harness with invented sample data.}

Project status

Guest browsing and playback, 4K VP9, HDR output, automatic frame-rate switching and live rewind have passed bounded sessions on PS5 consoles. Accounts in daily use, a complete update from a published release and the remaining Afterglow screens are still being validated, and Classic stays the default interface until then. Videos that need an account (age-restricted, private, members-only) do not play yet, and the player's own controls stay in English. Status and hardware acceptance record what was tested and where.

ProsperoTube talks to YouTube as one client identity. When YouTube changes its service, playback can stop until an app update arrives.

Roadmap

• Console acceptance of every Afterglow screen, then Afterglow as the default interface.
• Longer public 4K and live playback across varied network conditions.
• Accounts in daily use, phone casting and self-update validated from a published release.
• The player's controls and menus in the interface languages.
• Playback of videos that need the signed-in account.
• Voice search without a computer.
• A web proxy setting, backup to Google Drive and video previews on focused cards.

Getting started

Requirements

• A PS5 that runs homebrew, with a title loader that registers apps from /data/homebrew (such as ShadowMountPlus).
• Its ELF loader listening on TCP port 9021, or a resident Lapy service: ProsperoTube uses Lapy to reach its data folder and stops at startup without it.
• An internet connection.

Install or update

1. Download PPSA99012.zip from the latest release and check it against SHA256SUMS.
2. Fully close ProsperoTube if it is running.
3. Extract the ZIP and copy the complete PPSA99012 folder to /data/homebrew/, so that /data/homebrew/PPSA99012/eboot.bin exists.
4. Start ProsperoTube.

Once a release is listed on homebrew.page, the app checks for updates at launch and offers Update now, What's new or Skip; accepting downloads, verifies and replaces the app after it closes. Settings, profiles and accounts in /data/prosperotube are kept. See Updates.

First use: Guest or signed in

ProsperoTube opens as Guest: search, Home, Discover, channels, playlists, comments and playback work without an account, and history, favorites and the queue stay on the console.

To sign in, choose Sign in to YouTube on the main menu (also first under Accounts & library and in the account settings while you are a Guest):

1. The app shows an address and a code, also as a QR code.
2. Open the address on your phone or computer and enter the code.
3. The app notices the authorization by itself; the account becomes a profile next to Guest.

Playback stays Guest's; a signed-in profile reports watch history unless History is off. The sign-in is stored as plain text in /data/prosperotube/accounts/oauth-profiles.json (the PS5 has no encrypted storage) and is not part of backups. Remove selected account deletes it; to revoke it at Google too, remove "YouTube on TV" under https://myaccount.google.com/permissions.

Casting from a phone

1. Open YouTube preferences > Phone pairing and choose Link a phone (in Afterglow, also under Accounts). A TV code appears.
2. In the YouTube app on the phone, open Watch on TV > Enter TV code.
3. Start a video or a queue from the phone; play, pause, seek, skip, volume, captions and stop work from there.

Reset phone pairing forgets this console. See the remote service.

Choosing the interface and theme

• YouTube preferences > Interface > Interface chooses Classic (the default) or Afterglow (preview).
• Theme, per profile: Afterglow, Onyx on true black, the light Daybreak or High contrast; nine earlier schemes are under Classic colours.
• YouTube preferences > Interface language overrides the PS5 system language.

Controls

is the touchpad button: press it until it clicks. Afterglow shows its buttons at the foot of every screen; its full map is in the design notes.

Classic browser

Input	Action
/	Move focus / open or watch
	Search
	Back; cancel a pending request
	Toggle favorite
R2 / L2	Toggle queue / follow the video's channel
/	Previous / next page
R3	Comments, or live chat on a live video
	Video, section, playlist and comment actions
	Retry the built-in service if it did not start

Player

Input	Action
	Pause or resume
left / right	Seek
up / down	Toggle captions / caption picker
/	Previous / next chapter
	Up next
R2	Playback options: quality, audio track, speed, video size and video actions
	Media information (Afterglow: caption picker)
	Statistics (Afterglow: playback options)
L2 / halves	Caption timing
R3	Jump to the next SponsorBlock highlight
	Stop (confirmed)

In Afterglow, media information and statistics are in the playback options as Details and Playback details. The D-pad directions can be reassigned under Player controls, keys and Shorts. Closing ProsperoTube from its menu releases its resources; then close it from the PS5 switcher.

Files on the console

Everything the app writes is in one folder that an update or reinstall does not touch:

Path	Contents
/data/prosperotube/youtube.json	Settings, profiles, history, favorites and queues
/data/prosperotube/accounts/oauth-profiles.json	Signed-in accounts, as plain text
/data/prosperotube/backup/	Manual and automatic backups
/data/prosperotube/import/	Place a subscriptions export here to import it
/data/prosperotube/cache/	The built-in service's cache; safe to delete
/data/prosperotube/providers/youtube/art/	Thumbnails kept between launches

To start over, delete /data/prosperotube while the app is closed. Whoever can read that folder can use the signed-in accounts. The built-in service listens on 127.0.0.1 only, behind a random token, and writes no log; see the protocol and security notes and native/elevation for how storage access works.

Build

Use x86_64 Ubuntu 24.04, natively or in WSL. No proprietary SDK is required.

git clone https://github.com/blackbearreloaded/ProsperoTube.git
cd ProsperoTube
make host-deps  # once: system packages (uses sudo)
make zip        # or make: fetch pinned dependencies, build and verify the ZIP
make test       # offline checks

The first build compiles a large shader toolchain and takes a while; later builds reuse its cache. Outputs:

dist/PPSA99012/        complete title folder
dist/PPSA99012.zip     installable ZIP
dist/SHA256SUMS        ZIP checksum

Build has the pins, cache paths, overrides and release steps.

GitHub Actions and releases

The Build workflow runs for version tags (v + the content version, for example v01.000.000), pull requests and manual runs; pushes to main build nothing. It builds with make zip and runs the offline checks beside it, then checks the ZIP (one PPSA99012 folder, every entry stored 0777, eboot.bin, sce_sys, the helpers, the version), runs make verify, attests the ZIP and uploads PPSA99012.zip with SHA256SUMS.

• A pull request's build is named ProsperoTube-PR<number>-<commit> and carries build-label.txt in the app folder.
• A tag publishes a pre-release with exactly those two files.
• The PS5 shader compiler and the compiler cache come from the cache or the build-cache snapshot; a manual run on main with snapshot ticked refreshes them.

Verify a downloaded release with gh attestation verify PPSA99012.zip -R blackbearreloaded/ProsperoTube. See Build for details.

Documentation

Document	Purpose
Changelog	User-visible changes in each version
Status	What is implemented, what was tested and where
Hardware acceptance	Every console session and its result
Validation	Host and package validation record
Handoff notes	Where the work stands and what comes next
Build	Dependencies, the PS5 build, checks and releasing
Updates	Update check and self-update
Localization	Interface languages and what stays English
Decisions	Design decisions and their reasons
Parity	Comparison with SmartTube
Afterglow design notes	The interface design and controller map
Afterglow architecture	How Afterglow is built and tested
Built-in service	The YouTube service on the host and the console
Notices	Dependency, asset and licence attribution

Elevation credits

Filesystem elevation uses PS5-Lapy-JB-Daemon, created by ArkSama, with the cooperative owned-root helper from mpereiraesaa's PS5-Lapy-JB-Daemon and contributors. The build pins commit 57fcc19 of the BlackBearReloaded fork, which carries the donor-release and firmware 13.60 fixes of PR #48 and PR #49 and the guarded target-lifetime changes of PR #50, runs upstream's own exact-title helper build for PPSA99012 without changing it, verifies the generated manifest and ships the helper (MIT; its protocol header is LGPL-2.1-or-later) with its licence, as ProsperoEden does.

Credits

Built with the PS5 Payload SDK by John Törnblom (ps5-payload-dev). Third-party components, authors and licenses are listed in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.

License

Copyright © 2026 BlackBearReloaded. Licensed under GPL-3.0-or-later; see LICENSE. Third-party components keep their own licenses. Binary releases are built from the tagged source in this repository.

Disclaimer

• No affiliation. This is an independent homebrew project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Sony Interactive Entertainment. "PlayStation", "PS5" and related marks are trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by YouTube, Google or the EVO Player project. YouTube is a trademark of Google LLC.
• No proprietary material. No Sony SDK, firmware, encryption keys or decrypted system modules are included.
• No warranty. This project is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, to the extent permitted by law. See sections 15 and 16 of the GPL.
• Use at your own risk. Running homebrew requires a modified console, which may void its warranty, breach the platform's terms of service, or cause data loss.
• Legal use only. Use it only with hardware, accounts and content you own. This project does not support or enable piracy.

AI assistance

This project was developed with AI assistance from OpenAI and/or Anthropic tools.