Installing it, adding sources, fixing playback when it sulks, and setting it up on a TV. Search, or pick a section.
Which file to download, is it safe, updates, iPhone.
Why it starts empty, what a repository is, which to add.
Finding titles, picking a server, saving for offline.
The checklist — dead sources, Cloudflare, buffering.
Android TV, the D-pad, signing in without typing.
The dozen we’re asked most.
Nothing matched. Try fewer words, or read the sections below.
Releases carry several APKs because one file for every device would be needlessly large:
The app is open source under GPL-3.0 and every release is published on GitHub, so anyone can read the code or build it themselves. No ads, no analytics, no account needed to watch. Android will warn about installing outside the Play Store — that warning is about the install method, not this app in particular.
Zangetsu checks GitHub Releases and offers new versions inside the app. There's an opt-in beta channel in settings for pre-releases. Installing a newer APK over the top also works and keeps your data.
There's an iOS build on TestFlight. It's a beta, and one limitation is worth knowing before you install it: CloudStream and Aniyomi / Mihon extensions are Android-only. They rely on Android's plugin loading, which iOS doesn't allow. On iOS you get Zangetsu's own JavaScript sources and the built-in player, not the full source ecosystem.
So if a guide here mentions a CloudStream or Aniyomi repository, that part is for Android. Everything else — the player, downloads, trackers, your list — works the same.
Opening the app the first time walks you through a short setup. There's nothing to sign up for — an account is optional and only exists to sync your list across devices. When it finishes you land on an empty home screen, because no sources are installed yet. That's the next step.
This is the part that confuses people most, so plainly: Zangetsu ships with nothing. Fresh install, no sources, empty home screen. That's deliberate.
A source is a small plugin that knows how to search one website and find video for a title. Sources come from repositories — a URL that lists plugins the app can install. Add a repository, install sources from it, and the app can then search them.
Zangetsu understands several plugin formats, so extensions written for other apps work here too:
.cs3 extensions.Paste the repository URL, let it load, then install the sources you want. They show up in the source switcher at the top of the home screen. Installed sources can be updated from the same screen when the author publishes a new version.
These are community-run repositories that people commonly use. They are not ours — we don't run, host, endorse or control them, and any of them can change or disappear without notice. Copy the URL and paste it into Add repository.
The app has separate modes for watching and reading, and the source switcher only offers sources that fit what you're doing. If a mode looks empty, you haven't added a source for that mode yet — the home screen will say so and point you at the right screen.
Search from the magnifying glass in the bar at the bottom. Results are grouped by source, so you can see at a glance who has the title. The chip at the top of the home screen switches which source you're browsing.
Open a title, pick an episode, and it starts on the first server that responds. If that one is poor, open the sources sheet in the player and pick another — your choice is remembered for that title.
In the player you get speed, subtitles and their styling, quality where the stream offers it, and gestures for seek, brightness and volume. Progress is saved automatically, so Continue watching on the home screen picks up where you stopped.
Tap the download icon on an episode, or use the batch button on the episode list to grab several at once. Streams that arrive in pieces are stitched into a single playable file, so downloads behave like ordinary videos — including seeking. Downloads live under the Downloads section, and you can choose the folder in settings.
Almost always the source rather than the app. Sites break, move domain, add bot protection or simply go down — and a source written for last month's layout stops working. Work through these in order.
Open the same title from another source. If a second one plays, the first is broken and there's nothing to fix on your end.
This tests your installed sources and marks the dead ones. Search puts healthy sources first and skips ones that just failed, so clearing out dead sources genuinely speeds things up.
When a site changes, its source usually gets fixed within days. The sources screen shows a badge when updates are available.
Some sites sit behind a "checking your browser" screen. The app opens a real browser view so you can complete it — do it once and the result is remembered. A few sources also open an ad page in your browser when resolving a link; that's the source's behaviour, not the app's.
The quality button lists the resolutions inside the stream you're playing. If a source only offers one file per quality, they appear as separate servers in the sources sheet instead. A source that reports nothing shows no quality button — that's honest rather than broken.
Use the TV build from releases — many TV boxes and sticks are still 32-bit, and the arm64 phone build will crash on them. Sideload it however you normally do; the app detects the TV and switches to a D-pad interface automatically.
Everything is built for a remote — arrow keys to move, OK to select, Back to go up. Holding OK on a poster opens its quick menu, the same as a long-press on a phone.
Typing on a TV is painful, so you scan a code instead.
Two QR codes appear:
The same flow connects AniList, MyAnimeList and Simkl to the TV.
Sources work exactly as they do on a phone, and the screens are the same ones adapted for a remote. Adding a repository means typing a URL, which is the one genuinely awkward moment — if you use the app on a phone as well, it's easier to get set up there first.
If you'd rather not install anything on the TV, cast from your phone to a Chromecast. Some streams need particular headers to play, which the app handles by serving them through the phone — so keep the phone awake and on the same network while casting.