diff --git a/app/build.gradle b/app/build.gradle
index 7dd15e3413..fcf4fcc251 100644
--- a/app/build.gradle
+++ b/app/build.gradle
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ android {
         minSdkVersion 14
         targetSdkVersion 25
         versionCode 3
+        buildConfigField 'String', 'YOUTUBE_API_KEY', '"AIzaSyDAOcAgAAd098p_FLIePaQNKPTpcyhUGBA"';
     }
     buildTypes {
         release {
diff --git a/app/src/extra/java/free/rm/skytube/gui/businessobjects/YouTubePlayer.java b/app/src/extra/java/free/rm/skytube/gui/businessobjects/YouTubePlayer.java
index 46aa1f6185..118a2e664e 100644
--- a/app/src/extra/java/free/rm/skytube/gui/businessobjects/YouTubePlayer.java
+++ b/app/src/extra/java/free/rm/skytube/gui/businessobjects/YouTubePlayer.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import android.preference.PreferenceManager;
 import android.util.Log;
 
+import free.rm.skytube.BuildConfig;
 import free.rm.skytube.R;
 import free.rm.skytube.businessobjects.YouTubeVideo;
 import free.rm.skytube.gui.activities.YouTubePlayerActivity;
@@ -72,7 +73,7 @@ private static boolean useOfficialYouTubePlayer(Context context) {
 	private static void launchOfficialYouTubePlayer(String videoId, Context context) {
 		try {
 			// try to start the YouTube standalone player
-			Intent intent = com.google.android.youtube.player.YouTubeStandalonePlayer.createVideoIntent((Activity) context, context.getString(R.string.API_KEY), videoId);
+			Intent intent = com.google.android.youtube.player.YouTubeStandalonePlayer.createVideoIntent((Activity) context, BuildConfig.YOUTUBE_API_KEY, videoId);
 			context.startActivity(intent);
 		} catch (Exception e) {
 			String errorMsg = context.getString(R.string.launch_offical_player_error);
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/free/rm/skytube/businessobjects/CheckChannelActivity.java b/app/src/main/java/free/rm/skytube/businessobjects/CheckChannelActivity.java
index 856a67d38e..132f63f202 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/free/rm/skytube/businessobjects/CheckChannelActivity.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/free/rm/skytube/businessobjects/CheckChannelActivity.java
@@ -27,8 +27,7 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.List;
 
-import free.rm.skytube.R;
-import free.rm.skytube.gui.app.SkyTubeApp;
+import free.rm.skytube.BuildConfig;
 
 /**
  * Check if there has been an activity (e.g. a new video has been published) on the given channel.
@@ -45,7 +44,7 @@ public void init() throws IOException {
 		this.activitiesList = YouTubeAPI.create().activities()
 				.list("snippet")
 				.setFields("items(snippet/publishedAt)")
-				.setKey(SkyTubeApp.getStr(R.string.API_KEY))
+				.setKey(BuildConfig.YOUTUBE_API_KEY)
 				.setMaxResults(MAX_RESULTS);
 	}
 
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/free/rm/skytube/businessobjects/GetCommentThreads.java b/app/src/main/java/free/rm/skytube/businessobjects/GetCommentThreads.java
index 87d3b3a68d..a0044dc50d 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/free/rm/skytube/businessobjects/GetCommentThreads.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/free/rm/skytube/businessobjects/GetCommentThreads.java
@@ -27,8 +27,7 @@
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 
-import free.rm.skytube.R;
-import free.rm.skytube.gui.app.SkyTubeApp;
+import free.rm.skytube.BuildConfig;
 
 /**
  * Queries the YouTube service and gets the comments of a video.
@@ -49,7 +48,7 @@ public void init(String videoId) throws IOException {
 		this.commentsList = YouTubeAPI.create().commentThreads()
 				.list("snippet, replies")
 				.setFields("items(snippet, replies), nextPageToken")
-				.setKey(SkyTubeApp.getStr(R.string.API_KEY))
+				.setKey(BuildConfig.YOUTUBE_API_KEY)
 				.setVideoId(videoId)
 				.setTextFormat("plainText")
 				.setMaxResults(MAX_RESULTS)
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/free/rm/skytube/businessobjects/GetFeaturedVideos.java b/app/src/main/java/free/rm/skytube/businessobjects/GetFeaturedVideos.java
index e2ee0a8b36..4e084854bb 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/free/rm/skytube/businessobjects/GetFeaturedVideos.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/free/rm/skytube/businessobjects/GetFeaturedVideos.java
@@ -26,8 +26,7 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.List;
 
-import free.rm.skytube.R;
-import free.rm.skytube.gui.app.SkyTubeApp;
+import free.rm.skytube.BuildConfig;
 
 /**
  * Get today's featured YouTube videos.
@@ -48,7 +47,7 @@ public void init() throws IOException {
 		videosList.setFields("items(id, snippet/defaultAudioLanguage, snippet/defaultLanguage, snippet/publishedAt, snippet/title, snippet/channelId, snippet/channelTitle," +
 				"snippet/thumbnails/high, contentDetails/duration, statistics)," +
 				"nextPageToken");
-		videosList.setKey(SkyTubeApp.getStr(R.string.API_KEY));
+		videosList.setKey(BuildConfig.YOUTUBE_API_KEY);
 		videosList.setChart("mostPopular");
 		videosList.setRegionCode(getPreferredRegion());
 		videosList.setMaxResults(MAX_RESULTS);
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/free/rm/skytube/businessobjects/GetYouTubeVideoBySearch.java b/app/src/main/java/free/rm/skytube/businessobjects/GetYouTubeVideoBySearch.java
index a06f271f1b..2d466972c5 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/free/rm/skytube/businessobjects/GetYouTubeVideoBySearch.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/free/rm/skytube/businessobjects/GetYouTubeVideoBySearch.java
@@ -26,8 +26,7 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.List;
 
-import free.rm.skytube.R;
-import free.rm.skytube.gui.app.SkyTubeApp;
+import free.rm.skytube.BuildConfig;
 
 /**
  * Get videos corresponding to the user's query (refer to {@link #setQuery(String)}).
@@ -46,7 +45,7 @@ public class GetYouTubeVideoBySearch extends GetYouTubeVideos {
 	public void init() throws IOException {
 		videosList = YouTubeAPI.create().search().list("id");
 		videosList.setFields("items(id/videoId), nextPageToken");
-		videosList.setKey(SkyTubeApp.getStr(R.string.API_KEY));
+		videosList.setKey(BuildConfig.YOUTUBE_API_KEY);
 		videosList.setType("video");
 		//videosList.setRegionCode(getPreferredRegion());	// there is a bug in V3 API, so this does not work:  https://code.google.com/p/gdata-issues/issues/detail?id=6383 and https://code.google.com/p/gdata-issues/issues/detail?id=6913
 		videosList.setSafeSearch("none");
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/free/rm/skytube/businessobjects/YouTubeChannel.java b/app/src/main/java/free/rm/skytube/businessobjects/YouTubeChannel.java
index d357527ca7..52e936babf 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/free/rm/skytube/businessobjects/YouTubeChannel.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/free/rm/skytube/businessobjects/YouTubeChannel.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 import java.io.Serializable;
 import java.util.List;
 
+import free.rm.skytube.BuildConfig;
 import free.rm.skytube.R;
 import free.rm.skytube.businessobjects.db.SubscriptionsDb;
 import free.rm.skytube.gui.app.SkyTubeApp;
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@ public void init(String channelId, boolean isUserSubscribed) throws IOException
 		channelInfo.setFields("items(id, snippet/title, snippet/description, snippet/thumbnails/default," +
 				"statistics/subscriberCount, brandingSettings/image/bannerTabletHdImageUrl)," +
 				"nextPageToken");
-		channelInfo.setKey(SkyTubeApp.getStr(R.string.API_KEY));
+		channelInfo.setKey(BuildConfig.YOUTUBE_API_KEY);
 		channelInfo.setId(channelId);
 
 		// get this channel's info from the remote YouTube server
diff --git a/app/src/main/res/values/strings_api_key.xml b/app/src/main/res/values/strings_api_key.xml
deleted file mode 100644
index 37ace78a74..0000000000
--- a/app/src/main/res/values/strings_api_key.xml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<resources>
-	<string name="API_KEY">AIzaSyDAOcAgAAd098p_FLIePaQNKPTpcyhUGBA</string>
-</resources>
\ No newline at end of file