Your feeds stay on your device. Retube does not operate an analytics service or a backend that receives your feed library. The website at retubeapp.com has its own privacy policy. When you uninstall Retube, Chrome opens an optional feedback page on that website; nothing from your library is sent with it.
Data stored on your device
Retube stores feed names, colors, channel assignments and public channel details. Channel results, including native cards, account-specific menus, and watch-progress information, are cached in the current YouTube tab’s session storage and reused for up to five minutes. This cache survives page reloads, is separated by YouTube account, and is not included in extension storage or backups. Search text and display filters are used in the current page and are not sent to a developer service.
These records are used to display and organize the feeds you request. They are not synced to a Retube account or to your YouTube account. Retube does not read your general browser history or Google password. Retube does not record which videos you open or watch, or maintain its own playback history. Inside YouTube, its native cards can display the resume-progress information supplied by YouTube for your current session. This is not a measurement of total time spent watching.
During first-run setup, Pick from your subscriptions reads the channel names, handles, and avatars of your YouTube subscriptions from a signed-in YouTube tab, using that tab’s own session, only when you reach that step. The list is shown for you to choose from and is not stored or sent anywhere; only the channels you pick are saved to your feed. Retube stores the installed and last-presented release versions locally so updates are announced once across tabs and YouTube accounts. These version markers are not included in backups or sent to a server. Retube also stores two small first-run flags locally: whether the sidebar callout was dismissed, and whether a first feed has ever been created.
Requests to YouTube and Google image services
Channel lookup requests public channel pages from www.youtube.com through the background worker, without account cookies. Inside a YouTube tab, Retube requests the selected channel pages using that tab’s session and loads older videos through YouTube’s authenticated browse service. Channel IDs or handles and pagination tokens are included as needed. Retube does not read your cookies or authentication headers. They are handled by your browser and YouTube’s own request service.
Thumbnails and channel avatars are requested from YouTube/Google image hosts, including ytimg.com, ggpht.com, and googleusercontent.com. Like other web requests, these disclose your IP address and ordinary connection/request information to the receiving service. Requests and normal YouTube navigation are subject to Google’s own policies. Background requests omitting cookies does not mean your ordinary YouTube tab is signed out.
When embedded, Retube places its controls and native video cards in the YouTube page. Scripts on that page can observe the displayed UI and video data. Local settings operations are performed by the isolated extension script; the page-message adapter has no extension-storage access. Clicking YouTube’s native controls, such as Save to Watch later or Save to playlist, acts on your YouTube account through YouTube’s own interface. Clearing Retube data does not undo those YouTube actions.
Sharing, sale, and advertising
The developer does not receive, sell, or share your local feed library. Retube does not include analytics, advertising SDKs, or tracking pixels. Data is used only to provide the features described here, not for advertising, creditworthiness, lending, or unrelated profiling.
Retention, backups, and deletion
Feed settings remain until you change them, clear Retube’s local data, or uninstall the extension. Cached upload results expire after five minutes and are discarded during subsequent cache updates; closing the YouTube tab clears its session cache.
Open Help & support → Backup & local data → Clear local data to remove settings. Confirmation is required. Close your YouTube tabs to discard their temporary upload caches. The release-version markers remain so the same update is not announced again; uninstalling removes them. This does not affect your YouTube account. You can remove individual feeds or channel assignments in the app.
On upgrading from an older Retube version, local saved videos and watched markers are removed while feeds and channels are preserved. Older backups still restore feeds and channels; retired activity records are ignored.
Export backup creates a JSON file on your device containing feeds and channels. Protect that file: it may reveal your interests. Import backup reads the file locally and replaces existing data only after your confirmation. Exported files remain wherever you saved them and must be deleted separately.
Security and permissions
Retube uses HTTPS for content requests. Local storage saves your library. YouTube site access enables the sidebar integration and upload requests. Script injection installs the bundled YouTube integration and reads YouTube’s theme for the popup. Executable extension code and fonts are bundled locally.
Support requests
If you contact the developer through the Chrome Web Store, the message and any details you choose to include are used to answer your request. Do not include passwords, account tokens, or your full backup unless you intentionally want to share it. Use the developer contact or Support section on the listing titled Retube - Custom YouTube Feeds for support or privacy questions.
Changes
This page will be updated when Retube’s data practices change. Material changes will also be disclosed in the extension or listing as appropriate.