RustedWax is an Open Source, Android media scrobbler that tracks what you actually play on YouTube, YouTube Music, Brave, and Chrome and publishes qualifying scrobbles to Hive.
If you dont know what RustedWax here the announcement post I publish a few days ago: @rustedwax/rustedwax-the-android-scrobbler-i-built-after-using-scrobblelife-668317
I case you get lost I will leave a prompt you can use with Chatgpt or you can leave a comment, I will have this post on Speed Dial checking for your questions and suggestions.
This guide will take you through the complete initial setup, from downloading the APK to making your first Scrobble into the Hive Network, as for your personal profile you can follow up on https://scrobble.life by 
It might look a bit extensive but RustedWax is an app that basically register what other apps like Youtube App, Youtube Music and Brave Browsers is playing, either video or music, it has to extract information from them and there are times where the data that Youtube as a service expose is not the cleanest one since part of it might be very informal and limited, for the most part this is because regular users like you and me might upload a video or song with the wrong description, author and other meta data and this is where RustedWax tries to shine to give you the most accurate Scrobble possible and not just "this is music" or "this is a video".
By default, a scrobble becomes eligible after RustedWax credits at least 60% of the media’s verified duration as actually played. This helps avoid scrobbling content that was only opened briefly or played accidentally.
At the moment of this article, the current public release is RustedWax v0.12.1.
What You Need
Before starting, you will need:
- An Android device running Android 8.0 or newer.
- A Hive account.
- Your Hive Posting Key.
- An internet connection.
- YouTube, YouTube Music, Brave, or Chrome depending on what you want to scrobble.
Important: RustedWax only needs your Hive Posting Key.
Never enter your Hive Active Key, Owner Key, Master Password, or recovery information into RustedWax.
Step 1 — Temporarily Disable Google Play Protect
RustedWax is currently distributed directly as an APK rather than through Google Play, for now as it still under initial development, start user adoption to latter on publish on Google Play.
Depending on your Android device and Play Protect configuration, you may need to temporarily disable Play Protect to install RustedWax. If Play Protect blocks the installation, follow these steps.
Before installation, temporarily disable Play Protect scanning.
Open:
Google Play Store → Profile picture → Play Protect → Settings ⚙️
Turn off:
Scan apps with Play Protect
Android may display a warning. Confirm that you want to disable scanning.
We will turn Play Protect back on after RustedWax has been installed and configured.
Step 2 — Download RustedWax
Open the official RustedWax GitHub releases page:
https://github.com/rustedcomet/RustedWax-Android/releases/latest
Under Assets, download the release APK.
For v0.12.1 the file is:
rustedwax-v0.12.1-release.apk
Make sure you download the release APK, not source code or a debug build.
Step 3 — Allow APK Installation
Open the APK after it finishes downloading.
Android may display a message saying that your browser or file manager is not allowed to install unknown applications.
If that happens, tap Settings and enable:
Allow from this source
For example, if you downloaded RustedWax using Chrome, Android may ask you to allow Chrome to install apps.
Return to the installation screen and tap:
Install
Once installation finishes, open RustedWax.
Step 4 — Allow Restricted Settings & Battery Settings
This step is especially important on Android 13 and newer.
Because RustedWax was installed outside Google Play, Android may prevent it from enabling certain special permissions such as Accessibility access.
Open:
Android Settings → Apps → RustedWax
Tap the three-dot menu ⋮ in the upper-right corner.
Select:
Allow restricted settings
Confirm with your PIN, fingerprint, or other device authentication if Android requests it.
If you later try to enable one of RustedWax's Accessibility services and Android says that the setting is restricted, come back to this screen and make sure Allow restricted settings has been enabled.
Battery Settings
On the same App Info screen, set Battery usage to Unrestricted. Some Android versions, particularly Samsung devices, may suspend background processes to save battery, which can delay or interrupt RustedWax playback detection.
Step 5 — Grant Notification Access
Open RustedWax.
RustedWax needs Android Notification Access to observe active media sessions.
This is different from the normal permission that allows an app to show notifications.
In the case of my Samsung A36 where I have been testing the app for the most part I only open RustedWax and it already has a Notification Access Required message, click Open Settings and Enable for Rustedwax.
When RustedWax asks for Notification Access, open the Android settings screen and enable RustedWax.
Depending on your Android version, the location may look similar to:
Settings → Notifications → Advanced settings → Notification access
or:
Settings → Apps → Special access → Notification access
Find RustedWax and enable it.
Confirm Android's warning.
This access allows RustedWax to obtain the media-session information it uses to identify and measure currently playing media.
Return to RustedWax when finished.
Step 6 — Connect Your Hive Account
In RustedWax, open:
Settings → Hive account → Connect
Enter your Hive username.
Then enter your Hive Posting Key.
A posting private key normally begins with:
5...
Tap:
Validate & save
RustedWax derives the corresponding public key locally and checks it against your Hive account's posting authority.
If everything is correct, the account will be connected.
Very Important
Use only your Posting Key.
Do not use your:
- Master Password
- Owner Key
- Active Key
- Recovery information
RustedWax stores the Posting Key using Android encrypted storage and signs Hive transactions locally on the phone.
Step 7 — Enable YouTube Scrobbling
Open RustedWax Settings.
Make sure:
YouTube scrobbling → ON
This controls RustedWax's YouTube-based scrobbling system and supports media coming from:
- YouTube
- YouTube Music
- Brave
- Chrome
On a fresh installation, YouTube scrobbling is enabled by default.
Step 8 — Enable Automatic Scrobbling
Find:
Automatic scrobbling
Turn it ON.
Automatic scrobbling is intentionally disabled on a fresh installation.
RustedWax will not allow automatic scrobbling until a valid Hive Posting Key has been configured.
Once enabled, RustedWax can automatically publish qualifying completed listens or watches to Hive.
Monitoring vs. Automatic Scrobbling
These are not the same thing.
RustedWax can monitor playback while Automatic scrobbling is disabled, but it will not authorize new listens to be written to Hive.
The Stop button is stronger.
Pressing Stop completely stops observation and discards the currently active playback session.
Step 9 — Configure Brave and Chrome
If you want to use Brave or Chrome, enable RustedWax's browser evidence service.
Open RustedWax Settings and select:
Browser evidence access
Android will open the Accessibility settings.
Find the RustedWax browser service and enable it.
If Android refuses to let you enable it because the application was installed from outside Google Play, return to:
Settings → Apps → RustedWax → ⋮ → Allow restricted settings
Then try again.
Browser evidence access is limited to supported browser detection and helps RustedWax identify the YouTube page being played and distinguish actual content from visible YouTube ads.
If you only plan to use the native YouTube or YouTube Music applications, this permission may not be necessary.
Step 10 — Optional: Connect YouTube Watch History
RustedWax can optionally use your YouTube watch history as additional evidence when identifying some videos played through the native YouTube application. This can significantly improve identification accuracy. I made this optional to respect everyone’s privacy, but I personally recommend enabling it.
In RustedWax Settings, select:
YouTube watch history
Sign in to the same Google/YouTube account that you use in the YouTube application.
For this feature to work correctly:
- The YouTube app should use the same Google account.
- YouTube Watch History must be enabled.
- YouTube Incognito mode must be disabled.
RustedWax never stores your Google password. Google handles the sign-in process. After you sign in, RustedWax stores the resulting YouTube session cookies encrypted on your device so it can read your YouTube watch history.
Disconnecting the account from RustedWax removes the stored session.
This feature is optional.
Step 11 — Optional: Enable Picture-in-Picture Tracking
If you regularly watch supported media using Android Picture-in-Picture (PiP), RustedWax can use Android Usage Access to account for eligible PiP playback time.
Open the Picture-in-Picture access option from RustedWax Settings and grant RustedWax:
Usage Access
This is particularly useful for Shorts because Shorts in PiP may not provide normal playback-position information.
Without Usage Access, some PiP time may not be counted.
This permission is optional.
Step 12 — Shorts Support
RustedWax currently ships with:
Disable Shorts → ON
by default.
This means Shorts are not scrobbled unless you deliberately enable their support.
Foreground Shorts detection is experimental and uses an additional YouTube-only Accessibility service.
To access these advanced options:
Open:
Settings → Tap the RustedWax version seven times to enable Developer Mode.
You can then configure:
If you want Shorts to be scrobbled, first turn Disable Shorts → OFF, then enable Foreground Shorts evidence.R
Only enable this if you specifically want to test or use Shorts scrobbling.
Normal YouTube videos and music do not require you to enable Shorts support.
Step 13 — Reply Notifications
RustedWax also supports Snaps, comments, replies, and Likes around your scrobbled media.
On Android 13 or newer, RustedWax may ask for permission to show reply notifications after your Hive account is connected.
This permission is separate from the Notification Access used for media detection.
You can allow it if you want Android notifications when RustedWax discovers a qualifying reply to one of your Snaps or comments.
RustedWax can notify you when it discovers a qualifying reply while the app is running and reading or refreshing Snap conversations. These are not instant push notifications, and RustedWax does not currently run independent background polling for replies.
Likes do not generate notifications.
Step 14 — Make Your First Test Scrobble
Now the basic configuration is complete.
Open one of the supported players:
- YouTube
- YouTube Music
- Brave
- Chrome
Start playing a normal video or song.
Return to RustedWax and open the Now tab.
You should see the currently detected media, including information such as:
- Artwork
- Title
- Service
- Playback progress
- Current status
Continue playing normally.
RustedWax measures actual played time rather than simply recording that a video was opened.
Once the playback qualifies and RustedWax finalizes the session, check the History tab.
A successfully accepted scrobble should appear there.
If RustedWax deliberately refuses a playback session, check:
Not Logged
RustedWax will normally provide a reason explaining why the media was not scrobbled.
Step 15 — Verify the Scrobble
After your first successful History entry, you can also verify that the activity reached Hive through Scrobble.life.
Open:
Look up your Hive account and confirm that the media appears in your public scrobbling history.
This verifies the complete path:
Media playback → RustedWax detection → playback measurement → Hive transaction → Scrobble.life
Step 16 — Turn Google Play Protect Back On
Once RustedWax is installed and working, you can re-enable Play Protect.
Open:
Google Play Store → Profile picture → Play Protect → Settings ⚙️
Turn:
Scan apps with Play Protect → ON
There is normally no reason to leave Play Protect disabled after RustedWax has been installed and configured.
Recommended Basic Configuration
For most users who want to scrobble regular YouTube and YouTube Music playback, the important settings are:
Monitoring: ON
YouTube scrobbling: ON
Automatic scrobbling: ON
Notification Access: Allowed
Hive account: Connected with Posting Key
For Brave or Chrome users also enable:
Browser evidence access
Everything else — YouTube Watch History, PiP Usage Access, Shorts evidence, Developer Mode, and diagnostics — can be enabled only if you actually need those features.
You're Ready
That's it.
Once configured, RustedWax can run alongside the media applications you already use. You don't have to manually submit every song or video.
Play your media normally and RustedWax handles the detection, playback measurement, verification, and qualifying Hive scrobble in the background.
You can then use History to see your successful activity, Not Logged to understand anything RustedWax intentionally refused, and the Snap features to start conversations around the media you've played.
Download the latest RustedWax release:
https://github.com/rustedcomet/RustedWax-Android/releases/latest
Source code and project information:
https://github.com/rustedcomet/RustedWax-Android
Scrobble.life:
Lost or Confused During Setup?
Android menus can be different depending on the phone manufacturer and Android version. If you cannot find a setting or get stuck during installation, copy the prompt below into ChatGPT and fill in your phone information. OR you can leave a comment, I will subscribe to this post and keep it on speed dial to answer all questions.
I'm installing and configuring RustedWax, an Android app downloaded from its official GitHub release page.
My phone is:
- Brand: [Samsung / Google / Motorola / Xiaomi / etc.]
- Model: [phone model]
- Android version: [if known]
I am currently stuck at this step:
[describe what you are trying to do]What I see on my screen or add a screenshot:
[describe the message, error, or available options]Please guide me step by step using the menu names and settings for my specific phone. If the instructions differ depending on my Android version, explain the alternatives.
RustedWax may require installing an APK, allowing restricted settings, Notification Access, Accessibility access for supported browser detection, and optional Usage Access. Do not assume I need every permission—help me only with the step I am currently trying to complete.