The popular YouTube Vanced app is being discontinued, following a legal threat from Google. The creators of Vanced have stated that the project will be shutting down in the coming days, with download links set to be removed. Though the app will continue to work for those who currently have it installed on Android, lacking future updates it is likely to stop working at some point soon. The Vanced owners have said that they have had to discontinue the project “due to legal reasons.”
Google sent the Vanced owners a cease-and-desist letter recently, this has forced the developers to stop distributing as well as developing the app. “We were asked to remove all references to ‘YouTube’, change the logo, we were also asked to remove all links related to YouTube products,” as per The Verge, who got this from an admin from the Vanced team in a Discord message.
What is YouTube Vanced?
Vanced is a popular third-party YouTube app for Android, particularly because it allows YouTube users to block all video ads on YouTube without having to subscribe to YouTube Premium. Vanced also includes a true black theme, as well as customizations not offered in the official YouTube for the Android app. To be put simply YouTube Vanced is a modded version of the original app that allows users to block all video ads on YouTube without needing a Premium.
Vanced is just the latest casualty in Google’s action against third-party apps that access YouTube. Google-owned YouTube forced two popular Discord music bots offline this past year before they started testing ad-supported YouTube integration into Discord just weeks later. The popular Rythm and Groovy Discord music bots also avoided ads on the service, thus, allowing Discord users to listen to music together without ads.
“Vanced has been discontinued,” as per a Telegram message from the owners of Vanced. “We understand that this is not something you wanted to hear; yet, this is something we need to do.”
You still have the ability to use Vanced for the time being, though. If you are an existing user, you might want to update to the latest version as the download links will be dead.
That being said, Vanced is not the only unofficial YouTube app available for Android users. There are others like the open-source NewPipe which continue to work, and given its open-source nature, maybe it has a better chance of survival than Vanced.
All of this news might make you worried about how you’ll be able to stream ad-free YouTube for free on your smartphone in the coming days now that the uber-popular YouTube Vanced is dead? Well, you don’t have to look anymore. On top of the news regarding Vanced’s closure, this article also provides you with the top 5 YouTube Vanced alternatives that you can use to continue streaming YouTube without ads. Note -All of the following methods work on all Android devices, including HUAWEI devices without Google Mobile Services (GMS).
Are there other alternatives?
NewPipe
As mentioned above NewPipe comes in as a solid alternative, as it is one of the popular ad-free YouTube apps available on Android. This app is open-source, free-to-use, it also comes with all the features that the official YouTube app supports (along with some more features). What’s the most interesting part you ask, it is that this app doesn’t use Google’s proprietary APIs to display content. Instead, it parses the normal YouTube mobile website to stream videos as well as to block ads on the go.
NewPipe offers the majority of the features that YouTube Premium comes with: background playback, ad-free streaming, picture-in-picture mode, video downloading, and a lot more. However, the app has two main issues, them being.
First, the app doesn’t offer a YouTube-like UI so you will have to settle with the new design if you want to use ad-free YouTube.
Second, since there is no support for Google services, the app does not sync with YouTube servers so you won’t be able to continue watching the video (that is from the point where you left the video on the app) on your PC.
Nonetheless, the app does provide the user’s options like subscribing to the channel, bookmarking videos, creating custom playlists, and much more without a Google account. Or, even needing you to log on to Google. You can try the NewPipe app on your Android smartphone by downloading the app using this link.
SkyTube
SkyTube is yet another open-source ad-free YouTube streaming app. SkyTube also works without Google services. SkyTube also allows you to subscribe to YouTube channels, bookmark videos, create playlists, and more. In addition to the features that NewPipe offers, you have the ability to block as well as whitelist certain channels you don’t want to/want to see videos from. You can try the app by downloading it from this link.
Ad-blocking DNS
If you want to retain the core YouTube experience, and don’t want to use other alternatives, then this is arguably the best option for you. However, it’s worth noting that this method is not foolproof so you might end up seeing some ads from time to time. But, if you happen to stream YouTube via the mobile website on your Android smartphone, then this method should work perfectly fine.
It makes sense we help you choose an ad-blocking DNS service; however, we will also explain how this method works. A DNS service blocks ads at the core level, to put this in simpler terms, a DNS service scans the code before rendering it on your device, and if it spots a Google ad during this, it will simply block it from showing up on your device. In short, you will be able to stream YouTube videos without the ads all the while the official app. Not only ad-free YouTube videos, but you will also be able to block ads from all the apps using this method, thus making it one of the best options at your disposal.
There are several ad-blocking DNS services available. Some of the most trusted services are Next DNS and AdGuard. Both of them are free to use and are simple to set up.
YMusic
If you primarily use YouTube Vanced just for streaming music, then you will love the YMusic app. YMusic allows you to play only the audio part of a YouTube video (that too in the background while the screen is turned off), in turn saving up to 90% of data. You also have the ability to download the YouTube videos in MP3 format on your device using the YMusic app. It can also extract metadata of the video, for example, the Artist as well as the Album name, it will also add the proper metadata to the downloaded music.
Moreover, it works with the YouTube app. Just share the link to YMusic from the official YouTube app, then the video will start streaming in the background. You can download YMusic here.
YouTube Premium
Now we come to the most obvious and easiest option there is, and probably the only option we encourage, legally speaking. This is probably the easiest way the users can get ad-free YouTube on their mobiles. YouTube Premium is the official paid service from YouTube, this grants you the ability to stream ad-free YouTube videos on your device. In addition to ad-free YouTube, you also get other benefits, for example, background playback, video downloading options, as well as the complimentary YouTube Music Premium service. Personal plans for YouTube Premium begin at 11.99 dollars per month. However, you can lower these costs by opting for an Annual plan, a student plan, or even a family plan.
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For more information on this, read this article by the verge.
Also, read Google has launched new .Day domain.
