Vanced, an Alternative to YouTube's Official App, is Shutting Down

"We're here to mourn the passing of YouTube Vanced," writes the site Android Police:If you weren't too fond of the official YouTube app, there were many alternatives at your disposal. One of them was YouTube Vanced - a modded version of the original app that added features like ad blocking, background playback, and many more without charging users like YouTube's Premium tier. We even put it on our list of the best indie apps you can get. It further gained popularity by bringing back dislike counts in videos just as Google removed them from their service... The folks behind the project announced Sunday in the app's official Telegram channel and on the Vanced Twitter account that it will be discontinued. No clear reason was given as to why it was killed off, so we can only speculate - but it's likely due to Google's legal department taking notice of Vanced... Vanced was never the only alternative YouTube app. Others include open-source NewPipe, which is more lightweight than the official app. But YouTube Vanced had a huge user base, and we'll miss it. It won't be updated anymore, but you can still get the last version. Do it quickly, though - the download links will soon be gone.

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