VacuumTube is the best way to watch YouTube on Steam Deck, SteamOS

By Liam Dawe - 4 Jun 2025 at 1:59 pm UTC

Last updated: 4 Jun 2025 at 2:11 pm UTC

Watching YouTube on Steam Deck / SteamOS? You need to grab VacuumTube which makes the whole experience a lot nicer. This is not a custom client, instead it wraps Google's own "YouTube Leanback" that's used for consoles and smart TVs in Electron and pretends to be the official YouTube app (as Google block it on PCs).

Quite a clever solution, although one Google is probably not particularly happy to see. Especially since it has a built-in adblocker too. The result is that for Steam Deck, SteamOS and any other media centre PC you just get an overall better experience when compared with running YouTube via the web browser.

It's available on Flathub, so you can install it in Desktop Mode via the Discover store. See my guide on installing extra software.

When you've added it to Steam and launch it in Gaming Mode, it feels like it was made for the Steam Deck / SteamOS systems. Controller support out of the box too, making it the perfect YouTube companion for you.

It just goes to show how easy it would actually be for Google to do directly. Just like how we have an official GeForce NOW app for the Steam Deck too.

The code is on GitHub, it's open source.

Hope you find it useful! I certainly do.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.

Tags: Steam Deck, Apps, Misc, Open Source, SteamOS

22 Likes

About the author - Liam Dawe

I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly checked on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. You can also follow my personal adventures on Bluesky.
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8 comments

dpanter a day ago

Mega Supporter

Imagine all the awesome things Google could do if they gave a single fark about their users instead of enshittificating everything within their grasp in the name of greed.

12 Likes

omfgnuts a day ago

No sponsorblock? Not touching youtube without it. The best way to use youtube on steam deck remains a kiosk mode youtube webpage with all the modern and configurable adblocks and sponsorblock and a gamepad preset from community templates

5 Likes

_Mars a day ago

I mainly used FreeTube or a browser so far but this seems like a very clean solution.
Will give it a shot.

0 Likes

rea987 a day ago

It would be nice to have something similar to SmartTube on Steam Deck to block ads as well as sponsored ads.

0 Likes

Linux_Rocks a day ago

I see Gordon Ramsay in the screenshot and my mind goes straight to "The soup is dry!" lol

0 Likes

Phlebiac a day ago

Running it on desktop, it took me a minute to figure out some navigation: Escape works to go back, F11 works for fullscreen.

0 Likes

2bithacker 10 hours ago

No sponsorblock? Not touching youtube without it. The best way to use youtube on steam deck remains a kiosk mode youtube webpage with all the modern and configurable adblocks and sponsorblock and a gamepad preset from community templates

Since it appears to be a TV client, I suspect you could run https://github.com/dmunozv04/iSponsorBlockTV to get sponsor-skipping. Not the most elegant solution, but possible.

0 Likes

edo 7 hours ago

Thank you

0 Likes

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