17 Best Video, Streaming and Downloader Apps for Android in 2026

Nobody watches video one way, which is why the "best video app" question has no single answer. There are six jobs here.

Play a file you already have. The video someone sent you, in a format nothing else opens. VLC.

Watch a subscription. The catalogue you pay for, in the app the catalogue insists on. Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Crunchyroll.

Watch something free, but better. A replacement client for a service whose own app is bad on the device you use. SmartTube, Twire, Stremio.

Read rather than watch. Manga and anime libraries, which share the same audience and none of the same apps. Aniyomi, Mihon.

Scroll. The short-form feed, in two sizes. TikTok, TikTok Lite.

Keep something for the flight. Five downloaders, with an honest note about what that means. YTDLnis, Seal, VidMate, TubeMate, Snaptube.

Eight of these seventeen are open source, and they cluster in one half of the list: the players, the clients and the readers. The catalogues are all closed, because the catalogue is the product.

Every version, size, minimum Android and licence below is the catalogue entry for the package this site serves.

The player

1. VLC — the one that opens everything

VLC is the app to install before any of the others, because it removes an entire category of problem.

• Version: v3.5.4 · Size: 34.8 MB · Android: 4.2+ · Licence: open source · Developer: VideoLAN Organization

It plays practically every container and codec there is without asking you to download a pack — MKV, AVI, MP4, FLV, subtitle files alongside the video, and network streams over SMB or FTP straight off a PC on your Wi-Fi. At 4.9★ across 4,350 reviews it is exactly as good as its reputation, and Android 4.2 is the lowest requirement on this page.

The trade is an interface built by engineers: it is functional rather than beautiful, and the settings are deep. In exchange there is no advertising, no account and no upsell, which nothing else here can say.

Pick this one if: you ever open a video file at all. This is the default.

The subscriptions

2. Netflix — the biggest catalogue

Netflix is the most-reviewed app on this page and the shape of the category.

• Version: v8.125.0 · Size: 32.4 MB · Android: 7.0+ · Licence: freeware · Developer: Netflix, Inc.

Downloads for offline viewing, profiles for each person, and a very large slate of original programming. At 4.8★ across 96,400 reviews it is the most reviewed entry here, and at 32.4 MB the app itself is light — the weight is in what it streams.

The trade is that the app is free and the service is not, the catalogue varies by country, and downloads expire on a schedule set by the licence rather than by you. It is a rental, and the app is the door.

Pick this one if: you already pay for it — there is no third-party client, and there is not going to be one.

3. Disney+ — the one with the franchises

Disney+ is the catalogue you subscribe to for specific properties rather than for breadth.

• Version: v3.24.1 · Size: 38.6 MB · Android: 7.0+ · Licence: freeware · Developer: Disney

Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic in one place, with offline downloads and a genuinely good kids mode with proper profile locking. At 4.8★ across 64,100 reviews it is well regarded, and the download quality options are more generous than most.

The trade is the same rental logic as Netflix, plus a catalogue that is narrow by design. You are subscribing to a small number of universes, and whether that is worth it depends entirely on whether you want them.

Pick this one if: somebody in the house wants Marvel, Star Wars or Pixar on a tablet.

4. Prime Video — the one bundled with something else

Prime Video is the service most people already have without having chosen it.

• Version: v3.0.380 · Size: 42.8 MB · Android: 7.0+ · Licence: freeware · Developer: Amazon Mobile LLC

Included with an Amazon Prime membership, with a large mixed catalogue, offline downloads, and X-Ray overlays that tell you who the actor is. At 4.7★ across 68,400 reviews it is the lowest-rated of the four subscriptions here, and the reason is usually the interface.

The trade is the shop. The catalogue mixes what your subscription includes with what you would have to rent or buy, and telling them apart takes more attention than it should. It also carries advertising on the standard tier now.

Pick this one if: you have Prime anyway — it costs nothing extra, and the catalogue is bigger than people assume.

5. Crunchyroll — the anime one

Crunchyroll is the specialist, and in its specialism it is the whole market.

• Version: v3.62.0 · Size: 44.5 MB · Android: 7.0+ · Licence: freeware · Developer: Crunchyroll, LLC / Sony Pictures

Simulcasts new episodes shortly after they air in Japan, with subtitles and a growing dub library, and the catalogue is the largest legal anime library there is. At 4.8★ across 48,200 reviews it is well liked by an audience that is famously hard to please.

The trade is that the free tier is advertising-heavy and a week behind, so the app is really a paid one, and licensing means some well-known series are simply not on it. The merger with Funimation consolidated the market and there is not much competition left.

Pick this one if: you follow currently-airing anime and want it legally, subtitled, within a day.

The better clients

6. SmartTube — YouTube, fixed, on a TV stick

SmartTube is the app people install on a Fire TV stick and then never take off.

• Version: v32.10 · Size: 25.0 MB · Android: 4.4+ (Android TV / FireStick) · Licence: open source · Developer: yuliskov (Open Source)

An open-source YouTube client built for a remote control rather than a touchscreen, with sponsor-segment skipping, playback speed control, and an interface that responds instantly on the underpowered hardware inside a streaming stick. At 4.7★ across 5,050 reviews it has a small, devoted audience of people who use it every day.

The trade is that it is not on any store, so you sideload it and it will not update itself — pair it with an app updater or you will be reinstalling by hand. It also depends on YouTube's own interfaces, so it occasionally breaks until the next release.

Pick this one if: you watch YouTube on a TV box or a Fire stick and the official app annoys you.

7. Stremio — one catalogue over many services

Stremio is the front end that puts everything you can watch in one place.

• Version: v2.3.2 · Size: 48.6 MB · Android: 5.0+ · Licence: open source · Developer: Stremio Official

It aggregates catalogues through add-ons, tracks what you are part-way through across devices, and gives you one search across services instead of four. The core app is open source and it syncs a library rather than hosting one. At 4.9★ across 5,750 reviews it is very highly rated.

The trade is that Stremio is a shell, and what it is worth depends entirely on the add-ons you install. The official add-ons are legitimate catalogue sources; unofficial ones exist that are not, and installing one is a choice you are making, not a feature the app gives you.

Pick this one if: you want one interface and one watchlist over several legitimate sources.

8. Twire — a lightweight Twitch client

Twire is 9.3 MB and does the one thing the official Twitch app makes hard.

• Version: v2.12.3 · Size: 9.3 MB · Android: 5.0+ · Licence: open source · Developer: twireapp (Open Source)

An open-source Twitch client with no advertising, chat that works, and a footprint a quarter the size of the official app. It is the smallest app on this page by a wide margin. At 4.9★ across 8,550 reviews the people who use it rate it very highly.

The trade is that a third-party client always lags the platform: features arrive late, some do not arrive at all, and Twitch can break it. Removing ads also removes revenue from the streamers you watch, which is worth knowing rather than pretending otherwise.

Pick this one if: you watch a lot of Twitch on a phone and the official app is too heavy.

The readers

9. Aniyomi — the library that does both

Aniyomi is a manga reader with an anime player attached, and that combination is why people pick it.

• Version: v0.18.1.2 · Size: 59.2 MB · Android: 6.0+ · Licence: open source · Developer: AniyomiOrg (Open Source)

It manages a library across sources, tracks your progress with the usual tracking services, downloads chapters and episodes for offline, and handles both formats in one app. At 4.9★ across 6,100 reviews it is the top-rated app in its niche, and at 59.2 MB it is the heaviest of the two readers here.

The trade is that Aniyomi ships with no content. It is a reader, and sources are extensions you add — the legality of any given source is on you, and legitimate ones exist alongside ones that are not. It is also sideloaded, so it needs an updater.

Pick this one if: you want one library for both manga and anime, and you will choose your own sources.

10. Mihon — the manga reader, focused

Mihon is the successor to Tachiyomi and it does one half of Aniyomi's job properly.

• Version: v0.20.4 · Size: 26.0 MB · Android: 6.0+ · Licence: open source · Developer: Mihon Team (Open Source)

Manga only: a fast reader with several page layouts, library management, progress tracking, offline downloads and a large extension ecosystem. At 26.0 MB it is less than half the size of Aniyomi, and at 4.9★ across 6,450 reviews it is rated just as highly.

The trade is the same content caveat — no sources are included, you add them, and what you add is your responsibility. Mihon is the choice if you only read; Aniyomi is the choice if you also watch.

Pick this one if: you read manga and do not need the video half.

The feed

11. TikTok — the short-form default

TikTok is the app that changed what video on a phone means, and it is the heaviest install on this page.

• Version: v36.2.4 · Size: 108.4 MB · Android: 5.0+ · Licence: freeware · Developer: ByteDance Ltd. / TikTok Pte. Ltd.

Short vertical video with the recommendation engine everyone else copied, plus a full editing suite for making your own. At 4.8★ across 59,300 reviews it is very well rated for what it is, and the creation tools are genuinely the best in the category.

The trade is 108.4 MB, heavy battery and data use, and a feed engineered to be difficult to put down. Data collection and its regulatory status are an ongoing argument in several countries; that is a real consideration and not a technical one.

Pick this one if: you want the full app, including making videos, and you have the space.

12. TikTok Lite — the same feed at a seventh of the size

TikTok Lite is the version for a cheaper phone or a metered connection.

• Version: v36.1.2 · Size: 14.8 MB · Android: 4.4+ · Licence: freeware · Developer: ByteDance Ltd. / TikTok Pte. Ltd.

14.8 MB against the main app's 108.4 MB, lower data use, and it runs on Android 4.4 — so it works on hardware the full app struggles with. At 4.7★ across 31,200 reviews it does the core job well.

The trade is that "lite" means fewer features: the creation and editing tools are cut down, and some effects are missing. It is a watching app more than a making one, and it carries the same privacy considerations as its bigger sibling.

Pick this one if: storage or mobile data is tight, and you mostly watch rather than post.

The downloaders

Before the five: downloading from YouTube is against YouTube's terms of service, whatever the video is, and downloading copyrighted material without permission is a separate question under the copyright law where you live. These are general-purpose tools that work on many sites. Use them for your own uploads, for content licensed to allow it, or for sites that permit it — and do not pretend the terms question disappears because a tool makes it a single tap.

13. YTDLnis — open source, and the one with the most controls

YTDLnis is one of the two honest choices in a category with a lot of dishonest apps.

• Version: v1.8.9.1 · Size: 47.2 MB · Android: 6.0+ · Licence: open source · Developer: Denis Cerri (Open Source)

A clean Android front end for the yt-dlp engine, which means it supports an enormous list of sites, gives you real control over format and quality, extracts audio, and carries no advertising and no bundled anything. At 4.9★ across 8,200 reviews it sits at the top of this section on rating, level with Seal below.

The trade is that it is sideloaded and it will not update itself, and yt-dlp needs regular updates to keep working as sites change. It is also the most technical of the five, with more options in front of you.

Pick this one if: you want a downloader whose source you can read and that carries no advertising.

14. Seal — the same engine, the nicer interface

Seal does YTDLnis's job with YTDLnis's engine, and saying that plainly is more useful than pretending they are different tools.

• Version: v1.12.1 · Size: 34.0 MB · Android: 6.0+ · Licence: open source · Developer: JunkFood02 (Open Source)

A Material You interface over yt-dlp, with the format choice exposed properly — AV1, VP9, Opus, FLAC, MP3 — automatic subtitle and thumbnail embedding, custom command templates for anything the interface does not cover, and GPL-3.0 licensing with no advertising and no telemetry. At 4.9★ across 78,200 reviews it has nearly ten times YTDLnis's audience for the same underlying work.

The trade is the overlap itself: install one of the two, not both. Seal is the better-looking one with the far larger following; YTDLnis puts more of yt-dlp's options in front of you. Both are sideloaded, both need updating by hand, and both stop working when a site changes until yt-dlp catches up.

Pick this one if: you want the yt-dlp engine behind an interface that is genuinely pleasant, and you would like subtitles embedded without asking.

15. VidMate — the big closed one

VidMate has an enormous user base and a correspondingly large set of caveats.

• Version: v5.2704 · Size: 23.4 MB · Android: 5.0+ · Licence: freeware · Developer: VidMate Studio / Nemo Company

It downloads from a long list of sites, supports many quality options, and includes a built-in browser and player. At 4.8★ across 92,000 reviews it is heavily used, especially in markets where saving video for offline is the normal way to watch.

The trade is that it is closed source, advertising-supported, and not distributed through the Play Store — a combination that has historically attracted repackaged copies carrying things the original does not. Get it from a source you trust, and be deliberate about the permissions it asks for.

Pick this one if: you specifically want this app — otherwise YTDLnis does the same job with less to worry about.

16. TubeMate — the long-standing one

TubeMate is one of the oldest apps in this category still being maintained.

• Version: v3.4.9 · Size: 25.9 MB · Android: 5.0+ · Licence: official release · Developer: Devian Studio

Resolution choice from low to high, MP3 extraction, background and queued downloads, and a simple interface that has barely changed in years because it works. At 4.8★ across 142,800 reviews it has the second-largest review count on this page.

The trade is advertising, sideloading, and the same terms-of-service question as everything in this section. Its age is genuinely a point in its favour — it has been the same app from the same developer for a long time, which is not true of most of its imitators.

Pick this one if: you want the established name and you are getting the genuine build.

17. Snaptube — the most-reviewed of the five

Snaptube is the biggest downloader here by review count, with the same shape as the other two closed ones.

• Version: v7.28.0 · Size: 28.7 MB · Android: 5.0+ · Licence: official release · Developer: Snaptube App

Downloads from many sites, converts to MP3, offers multiple resolutions, and includes a discovery feed. At 4.8★ across 185,600 reviews it has the largest audience on this page — more than Netflix or TikTok.

The trade is advertising, closed source, sideloaded distribution, and a history of counterfeit builds circulating under the same name. As with VidMate: the app itself is the app, and the risk is in where you got it.

Pick this one if: it is the one you already use — there is no feature here that YTDLnis does not also cover.

The seventeen, side by side

What none of these fix

No app gets you a catalogue you have not paid for. Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and Crunchyroll are doors to a subscription. Stremio is a front end, not a source.

A downloader does not change the terms of service. Saving a YouTube video breaks YouTube's rules whether you use a browser, a script or a one-tap app. That is a decision, not a technicality.

Sideloaded apps go stale. SmartTube, Aniyomi, Mihon and the downloaders are not in a store and will not update themselves. Without an updater you end up running a build from a year ago.

A reader is not a library. Aniyomi and Mihon ship with nothing. Every source is one you added, and its legality is yours to judge.

The two-minute version

One app for everybody: VLC — it opens the file nothing else will.

YouTube on a TV stick? SmartTube — the reason people stop using the official app.

A lot of Twitch? Twire, at 9.3 MB.

Manga? Mihon if you only read, Aniyomi if you also watch.

Saving a video? Seal for the nicer interface or YTDLnis for the deeper options — one of the two, not both — and read the terms note above first.

Every app named here resolves to a page in the FileCobra catalogue — the build fails if one does not. Versions, package sizes and system requirements are read from that catalogue rather than written by hand. Where our ingestion worker has fetched a release itself, it records a SHA-256 of the exact file we serve and publishes it on the app’s page. We do not run an antivirus lab: where a VirusTotal report exists we link it, and where none exists we say so rather than imply one.