It is the end of the watch for YouTube Vanced, the modified version of the YouTube app. The creators of the project have confirmed that legal reasons are behind this shutdown. It is reported that Google, the parent company behind YouTube, sent the Vanced team a cease and desist letter.

Google stated in the letter that the Vanced owners are to remove references and links mentioning YouTube, stop developing and distributing the app, and change their logo.

YouTube Vanced is a modified version of Google’s official YouTube app. Vanced has grown quite popular since it was introduced in 2017. Most of the features it offers are either those the official YouTube app does not have, had removed, or reserves exclusively for premium users.

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The most popular of these features are blocking ads and background playback ability. Additionally, Vanced has a darker dark theme, SponsorBlock integration, and a re-enabled dislike counter.

YouTube Vanced has already removed all download links from its official site. In a tweet, they said anyone with the app already installed will use it just fine, until it is outdated in around 2 years.

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

Other alternatives are still available, like NewPipe, SkyTube, and LibreTube. It is not known yet whether Google will go after them as well, but we will be keeping an eye out for any developments.