Youtube Vanced was arguably the best and most popular way to stop Youtube ads, a free app that let you stream Youtube videos without ads of any kind.
Vanced was so popular, even Huawei used it in their marketing materials to show that their phones could play Youtube videos properly, despite the legal restrictions Huawei has on using any Google service.
Unfortunately, two days ago, the Vanced team announced they’re shutting down the app “due to legal reasons.”
Also read: Here Are 10 Of The Best YouTube To MP3 Converters You Can Start Using Right Now
So, why is Youtube Vanced shutting down?
A while ago, Google sent the Vanced team a cease and desist letter. The app makers probably didn’t have the resources to fight a lawsuit so they chose to shut down Vanced.
According to The Verge, who spoke to a Vanced team member, the app makers were asked to “remove all references to ‘YouTube’, change the logo, and remove all links related to YouTube products.”
Unfortunately for Vanced users everywhere, they complied with the order.
This Youtube Vanced meme hurts everyone’s soul but especially hits hard for those people who simply hate any and all Youtube ads.
Without this one stop shop to shut down all Youtube ads, we’re forced to use a combination of tools to achieve almost all the Vanced functionality. Here’s what we recommend.
Does Vanced still work?
For a short time, you’ll still be able to download Vanced and still use it for a while, until Youtube updates something to break that functionality. The last version of YouTube Vanced is 17.03.38 and you’ll find the APK with a quick Google search.
Since that’s a temporary fix to stop Youtube ads, here are 3 alternatives to Youtube Vanced to cut down on the amount of ads Google bombards you with. And no, none of them include Youtube Premium because 1. that subscription still has some ads and 2. you probably had the Youtube Premium trial and weren’t convinced it was worth a subscription.
So, let’s see some Youtube Vanced alternatives.
The best Youtube ad blockers in 2022
We tried many adblockers and combinations of them but Adblock for Youtube by AdRemover was the best one. It managed to block almost all ads in the beginning of Youtube videos and even eliminated some ads inside the videos.
We love the fact that it also offers dark mode for Youtube, one of the best features Vanced offered before.
To support your favorite content creators, you can whitelist entire Youtube channels to see their ads or just pause and unpause the AdBlock to allow ads on a single video.
And yes, Adblock for Youtube also works great on iOS!
Sponsorblock for Youtube (most browsers)
Regardless of the browser you use, Sponsorblock for Youtube, like Adblock, is an essential extension to block some Youtube ads.
This one works great on those annoying in-video ads with “words from our sponsor” and might save you some countless hours of watching boring VPN ads or Coursera special offers.
How to Block Youtube Ads on Android
Youtube Vanced Alternatives: NewPipe with Sponsorblock Fork
You’ll have to tinker with your Android settings a bit but it could be worth it.
NewPipe is an app that gives you the original Youtube experience. It’s a Youtube Vanced alternative that’s an open source app and offers a lot of features the official YouTube app doesn’t – like playing YouTube videos in the background without paying for a subscription.
Since it’s open source, the developers tried to move away from Google tracking – they don’t use proprietary Google APIs, store your settings online on your device and let you control what happens to your data.
However, the first and biggest NewPipe app doesn’t block all ads, since the team believes in ‘ethical advertising’, which is minimal, non-intrusive ads designed to support content creators. You can read more about their stance and explanations here.
If you agree with them, you can try NewPipe and deal with what ads they have.
If you truly want a YouTube Vanced-like experience, you’ll have to download a special fork of NewPipe with Sponsorblock (which we discussed earlier) embedded in it.
You can find it on Github here.
Youtube Vanced alternatives: Combine Iceraven browser + SponsorBlock + Enhancer for Youtube.
Iceraven is an open source fork of the new Firefox web browser for Android.
Why should you use Iceraven instead of Firefox? If you’re addicted to extensions and add-ons, you probably noticed that most browsers on Android limit the number of add-ons you can have.
Iceraven is a way of bypassing the new Firefox limitations on Android and get more add-ons.
Using Iceraven, you can add Sponsorblock and Enhancer for Youtube, two popular Youtube add-ons that stop ads and make the app more user-friendly.
How to block Youtube ads on iOS: Cercube
To do that, you’ll have to download a third-party mod for the iOS Youtube App. Try the Cercube IPA file for iOS, as this is the closest, best Vanced alternative iOS we could find.
With Cercube, you get some Vanced features built right into the Youtube app – you can block YouTube ads, use Picture-in-picture and even download Youtube videos without a Youtube Premium subscription.
You don’t have to jailbreak your iPhone to use Cercube but it’s not necessarily a user-friendly process. We found this guide on Cybertips that’s very straightforward and includes a link to download the Cercube IPA and side-load it into your iPhone.
Do you know of a better way to block Youtube ads? Help the community by leaving a tip in the comments and we’ll update this guide accordingly!
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