Google goes after YouTube Vanced with C&D, project to be discontinued
YouTube Vanced will be shutting down, after legal threat. The popular app is being discontinued after years of being available on the Android platform. Released first in 2018, YouTube Vanced is a sideloadable Android app that allows users to block ads, skip sponsored content, use a dark theme layout, and other useful tweaks, including bringing back the recently removed dislike button, bypassing the need for YouTube Premium. That combined with its popularity is likely why Google went after the project, serving them with a cease and desist. The Vanced team announced that due to "legal reasons", they'll be removing links to download the app from their website, and work on the project will be discontinued.
Existing installs of YouTube Vanced should still work for the foreseeable future, until Google makes significant changes to YouTube that would render the app useless.
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