YouTube Vanced will be shutting down, after legal threat. The popular app is being discontinued after years of being available on the Android platform. Released first in 2018, YouTube Vanced is a sideloadable Android app that allows users to block ads, skip sponsored content, use a dark theme layout, and other useful tweaks, including bringing back the recently removed dislike button, bypassing the need for YouTube Premium. That combined with its popularity is likely why Google went after the project, serving them with a cease and desist. The Vanced team announced that due to "legal reasons", they'll be removing links to download the app from their website, and work on the project will be discontinued.

Existing installs of YouTube Vanced should still work for the foreseeable future, until Google makes significant changes to YouTube that would render the app useless.

Vanced has been discontinued. In the coming days, the download links on the website will be taken down. We know this is not something you wanted to hear but it's something we need to do. Thank you all for supporting us over the years.

— Vanced Official (@YTVanced) March 13, 2022

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[Tomato123]

Time to switch to using Firefox with ad block + sponsorblock addons installed...

Seriously not paying the amount they charge for premium as at that price it's just daylight robbery.

 

[ars25]

Damm that sucks been using the app for a little over a year and a half and its a god send when im away from my computer and want to watch youtube without the 10 plus ads people put nowadays.

 

[urbanman2004]

Wtf ? I've been using that feature rich app alternative to YT for a whole year w/o issues. It did what YT don't: it brought back the 'dislike' counter, was commercial ad free and skipped ad time-stamps w/in videos... Google was prob mad b/c YT Vanced was interfering w/ their ad revenue... Fvck Google.

 

[BitMasterPlus]

Fuck you google. Take the hint that we don't like the shitty changes you made to youtube.

 

[AmandaRose]

Wtf ? I've been using that feature rich app alternative to YT for a whole year w/o issues. It did what YT don't: it brought back the 'dislike' counter, was commercial ad free and skipped ad time-stamps w/in videos... Google was prob mad b/c YT Vanced was interfering w/ their ad revenue... Fvck Google.

You can't blame Google concidering Vanced was an illegally modified version of the official YouTube app.

 

[Tomato123]

You can't blame Google concidering Vanced was an illegally modified version of the official YouTube app.

Vanced shouldn't have to exist if the features it provided were available either for free or at a reasonable price. £12 per month for no ads and a fraction of the features it provided is a terrible option from Google.

 

[AmandaRose]

Vanced shouldn't have to exist if the features it provided were available either for free or at a reasonable price. £12 per month for no ads and a fraction of the features it provided is a terrible option from Google.

I don't disagree with you but Vanced made the mistake of modifying the official YouTube app. There are other apps out there like Newpipe for instance that do the exact same things as vanced but are there own apps not modified code belonging to Google.

 

[Tomato123]

I don't disagree with you but Vanced maid the mistake of modifying the official YouTube app. There ae other apps out there like Newpipe for instance that do the exact same things as vanced but are there own apps not modified code belonging to Google.

Yeah to be fair they are distributing Google's software so there is fair ground to C&D them. Just wish the YouTube team would actually make an alternative instead of people having to resort to modifying the app. I know about Newpipe, but it is missing a lot of features because it's more focused on privacy then providing a feature-rich experience. Many of the apps which are entirely clean of Google's source code tend to be missing a lot of features I use, so not really useful to me. Maybe useful to others however.

 

[dragonblood9999]

I just use the brave browser on my phone.

 

[Kioku]

You've got to be fucking kidding me. They're jacking up premium prices and throwing MORE ads (some are obnoxiously long AND unskippable) into videos. Vanced was the only sensible app to use. "b-b-but the ads support the creators"... Nah, Google dripping literal pennies on the dollar to these creators through ads.

 

[ZeroT21]

Ads are the worst

 

[Rabbid4240]

OK, I guess when I'm in dire need of a tutorial, I'll just watch an Applebee's ad

 

[stanleyopar2000]

Blame everyone and their fucking dog for parroting how wonderful this app was for bypassing premium. Even some mainstream news sites were parroting it for clickbait

 

[CoolMe]

Well that just fu*&ing sucks! Options on mobile were already limited, i expect it to work for a few updates later, not sure what i'll use after that..

 

[tabzer]

Decentralize all of the content! I do like the concept of being paid to watch commercials which Brave offers.

Blame everyone and their fucking dog for parroting how wonderful this app was for bypassing premium. Even some mainstream news sites were parroting it for clickbait

I saw an article about it on some site called GBAtemp, too.

I hope the code gets leaked and is kept open-sourced/updated.

 

[CeeDee]

Definitely a shame, but it's a good thing there are plenty of alternatives.

 

[ShadowOne333]

Fuck you, Google.
One more reason why I debloat your shit from all my devices.

Anyone has a comprehensive list of other possible options for Vanced on mobile?
What about Android boxes with SmartTube?

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EDIT:
I did some research and found quite the comprehensive list of other options, you can find it here:

I did some research, and found some good alternatives (though not as good as Vanced right now):

• SkyTube
• NewPipe
• LibreTube
• SmartTubeNext (for Android TV devices)
• Your browser of choice with Ublock Origin extension
• Your browser of choice with AdNauseam extension
• Browser's with adblock features included, like Brave or Tor

I'll keep looking for other options, but as of right now, Vanced will keep working for some time.
I think the official statement said that it should still work fine for something around 2 years, but I really hope a good alternative with similar features drops before then, since I do rely on being logged in to YouTube for watching my video subscriptions, and some of these options don't allow for logged in YouTube (I think).

 

[SonicRings]

Quite literally the worst news to come out of anything tech related in the past decade. Hopefully the latest version will continue working for a couple more years.

 

[Tomato123]

Fuck you, Google.
One more reason why I debloat your shit from all my devices.

Anyone has a comprehensive list of other possible options for Vanced on mobile?
What about Android boxes with Streambox?

Only one I found that will get you anywhere near a Vanced experience I found is to install Firefox Nightly and with that install an adblock and sponsorblock (if you want to use sponsorblock, there is a bit of info on how to get it working on their github I think). Not sure if the return dislikes addon works, but couldn't hurt to try it.