How to Install Freetube on Manjaro Linux

Update Manjaro – Upgrade System Packages.

Ensure your system is updated before continuing with this tutorial. This is optional but recommended, especially given how Manjaro is based on a rolling Linux distribution.

sudo pacman -Syu

Sometimes, you may need a complete database download if you have not upgraded your Manjaro system for a while; use the following command if the above update command does not work.

sudo pacman -Syyu

Finally, I would recommend running an update with “pamac,” given you are using Manjaro; for those new to Manjaro, “pamac” is Manjaro’s package manager.

sudo pamac checkupdates -a

sudo pamac upgrade -a

Troubleshooting Updating Manjaro Packages

Manjaro is based on Arch Linux and is a rolling release; sometimes, updating packages with Pacman, you may notice GPG keys can become invalid or corrupted. If both commands fail, try this command instead.

Note, this is only if you have errors updating with the first two commands above if you can skip these.

sudo pacman -S archlinux-keyring manjaro-keyring

sudo pacman-key --populate archlinux manjaro

The above should work in nearly all cases, but if it does not, use the following steps as a last resort.

sudo rm -r /etc/pacman.d/gnupg

sudo pacman-key --init

sudo pacman-key --populate manjaro

sudo pacman-key --populate archlinux

sudo pacman -Syvv manjaro-keyring

Then repeat the update process.

Install Freetube with Manjaro

Situational – Enable AUR for ‘pamac.’

First, by default, AUR is disabled. You will first need to enable it, which you can do with the following command.

sudo sed -Ei '/EnableAUR/s/^#//' /etc/pamac.conf

Run FreeTube installation commands

Now that you have enabled the AUR. Run the following command that will build or install FreeTube on your system.

pamac build freetube

The process should not take more than a minute or two at max. Once done, you can move on to launching the application.

How to Launch Freetube

Once you complete the setup process, there are a few ways you can launch the app.

Open the software program via the Command Line Terminal. The process involves entering the command shown below into the prompt window.

freetube

The best way to use FreeTube for desktop users that prefer not to use the command line terminal is to open the GUI of the application by following the path.

Taskbar > Internet > Freetube

With the application now open, you can search or enter URLs, view trends, and so much more with the FreeTube application.

Example:

Do not forget to check out the settings menu to configure your FreeTube player.

Example changing to dark mode:

Additional Commands & Tips

How to Update FreeTube

The best way to upgrade the software is to use the following terminal command.

sudo pamac checkupdates -a

sudo pamac upgrade -a

Note it is advised to run terminal commands now and then, even if you have set up AUR auto-updates using the automatic GUI updater; this ensures you are not missing anything.

How to Remove (Uninstall) FreeTube

Execute the following terminal command for users wanting to remove the software.

pamac remove freetube

Clear orphan leftovers that are no longer required.

pamac remove -o

Clear packages deleted from the package cache.

pamac clean -uv -k 0

Remove any unnecessary packages from the Package Cache (the most recent version of each installed package). This helps speed up future installations by reducing the amount of data cached during installation.

pamac clean -v -k 2

Finally, for those who enabled the AUR with Manjaro’s package manager and later changed their minds about using it and instead wanted to use something else, you can easily disable it using this command.

sudo sed -Ei '/EnableAUR/s/^/#/' /etc/pamac.conf

Comments and Conclusion

If you’re looking for an open-source, privacy-focused way to watch YouTube videos without ads or being tracked by Google, FreeTube is an excellent option. Thanks to Electron, it’s available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, so it should work on most devices.