Google forces Vanced to shut down. YouTube Vanced is discontinued.
One of the more popular applications out there is Vanced. It is a unique modded version of YouTube. And the Android community loves it. That is because it has a rich set of features. One of the more popular one is the built in Ad-blocking feature.
YouTube is a platform we all know and love. But it’s one that doesn’t necessarily provide you with all the feature you may want out of the box. And Vanced noticed that. It offered their users some really cool and much needed features. People love the app because it is much easier to enjoy a video from there, rather to fight YouTube on ad skipping, resolution changes or other annoying aspects of their Premium app.
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Vanced Features
But that is not all this application can do. It offers users to play videos in the background or turn on Picture-In-Picture mode. You can take control 0ver the brightness and volume with Swipe Control, override the max resolution and even force an HDR mode.
It also features the true AMOLED dark mode to reduce battery and eye strain. It offers an auto-repeat feature that allows you to enjoy your favorite songs and videos by playing them in a loop. And if you are not interested in the comment section they you can simple toggle them off.
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The legal threat
The moment YouTube Vanced was released to the public – it was a hit. But now the popular application is hanging by a thread. YouTube Vanced is being discontinued. The creators of Vanced revealed that they will shut down the project in the upcoming days.
YouTube Vanced is discontinued
That means that the download links will be removed. If you already have the application installed then it will continue to work. But you will not be getting updates anytime soon.
The official statement from the project owners is that they had to discontinue the application “due to legal reasons”. Those legal reasons pertain to a cease and desist letter sent from Google. The document states that the Vanced team must immediately remove any references to YouTube. Change the logo and remove all links.
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
Why is Vanced discontinued?
Vanced is discontinued mainly because of the ability to show videos without ads. And this feature was what made this application so popular in the Android community. But Vanced, it’s not the only casualty. Recently Google went on a spree forcing two popular Discord music bots to go offline.
It seems like the big tech company is after those third-party apps with access to YouTube. When Google took down the bots it started testing ad-supported YouTube integration into Discord. So, you can understand why they are doing this.
“DISCONTINUATION OF THE VANCED PROJECT
Vanced has been discontinued. In the coming days, the download links will be taken down. The Discord server, Telegram chat and subreddit will stay for the time being. We know this is not something you wanted to hear, but it’s something we had to do. We want to thank you all for the support over the years.
Edit (1): The existing version will continue to work.
Edit (2): It was done due to legal reasons.”
What do the users think about YouTube Vanced being discontinued?
Well it seems like there are users who can’t actually use YouTube Premium. Actually it is not even available in their country. But even if you buy subscription from somewhere else, you still could not play video in the background or use PiP mode.
Then again, the ads are getting worse. There are 18-second+ ads that are non-skippable. And don’t get me started on the content that these ads promote. Anything from fake games, fake medicine and so on. It seems like YouTube will accept any type of promotion. And if you want to report an ad, well, good luck. The process is long and time consuming.
Another major reason as to why users are not happy with this decision is because of YouTube. They keep removing features and making unwanted changes to the platform. It’s just not that intuitive as Vanced is. As a result, a lot of people are installing Vanced just to punish YouTube. But they are also punishing the creators as well.
YouTube Vanced is discontinued news is circling the community. A lot of people are not happy with this decision. Who knows an alternative may pop up, but the chances are YouTube Premium is the only alternative right now.
What’s Next for YouTube Vanced?
Well since the application is shutting down, that means no more updates. The development team informed their users that the current app may still work for about two years. After that there will be only one alternative to Vanced – and that is YouTube Premium.
The funny thing is that, even though Google offers a premium version of the YouTube application, they don’t even come close to bringing all the features that Vanced offers. They are quite far away actually. Hopefully, YouTube will get the hint and start working to improve YouTube Premium. Thus, making it far more appealing to the users.
Alternatives
Well, the number one alternative is YouTube Premium. Then again there is one application that has been around even longer than Vanced. And that is: NewPipe. It is completely free and open source, and on top of that it has pretty much all the popular features.
SkyTube is also an interesting choice. It comes with two options. One being “SkyTybe Extra” which supports the official YouTube player and casting. And the other one is open source and free. But no matter which one you choose, you are still getting most of the Vanced features.
LibreTube is something we also have to mention, although it is in beta testing. However, it still has some crucial features that may entice you to try it out. One of the most interesting things about LibreTube is that it uses Piped, so you don’t ever connect directly to Google’s servers.
Although YouTube Vanced is discontinued and maybe, just maybe you will find some of these options to be a solid replacement for it, don’t expect too much. Because, anyone violating the YouTube ToS can be ordered to cease and desist from their actions.
Conclusion
YouTube Vanced announced that it will discontinue the app. The reason stated is the legal threat from Google. The creators have announced that the project will be shut down in the coming days. Download links will be removed. However, the application will continue to work for anyone who currently has it installed on Android. But, there will be no future updates.
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