Ad-blocking YouTube Vanced app shutting down over legal threats from Google
India Today
YouTube Vanced is being discontinued after receiving a legal threat from Google, the app developer confirmed via a tweet. Users with the current version can still use it for some time.
YouTube Vanced, the popular ad-blocking app, is shutting down after receiving legal threats from Google. The app developer announced the development via an official tweet. It said that Vanced “has been discounted” and the download links of the same will be removed soon.
The same tweet added that the ad-blocking app will continue to work for users who already have it installed on their phones. However, it will stop working at some point of time soon. No specific timeline for the shutdown has been announced yet.
YouTube Vanced is a third-party alternative to the original YouTube app. It allows users to block ads on the video streaming platform without free of cost. In addition, the app offers premium features like background play, picture in picture, dark theme, and the ability to restore disliked counts.
The creators have received a cease and desist letter from Google recently. The letter forces the developers to stop development and distribution of the app immediately. Further, in reference to this, The Verge received a Discord message from the Vanced team. The message states that they have been asked to remove all references to ‘YouTube’, change the logo, and remove all links related to YouTube products.”
While the app turned out to be fairly useful in the period of its existence. The content creators have always been against an app such as Vanced. The company did try to evade legal sanctions from Google by changing its name to just “Vanced” and removing mentions of YouTube from its website but that didn’t really work and the app is being forced to shut down.
In case you’re wondering if there are any alternatives to the YouTube Vanced app, yes there are. One such open-source app is NewPipe, which also isn’t as heavy as the official YouTube app. People who still want to use Vanced for the remaining period of its existence can download the last version but be quick as the links may soon go down.
