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Google shuts down third-party app “for legal reasons”

Third-party YouTube app, YouTube Vanced, will stop development for their app after recieving a legal threat from Google.

Erielle Sudario

Published: Mar 14, 2022 07:03 pm

Tech giant Google has shut down third-party YouTube app ‘YouTube Vanced‘ for legal reasons.

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The app developers received a cease and desist letter from Google, which forced them to stop developing the app and shut down the project completely.

According to a report by The Verge, Vanced owners were told by Google to “remove all references to YouTube, change the logo, and remove all links related to YouTube products.” The developers posted an official announcement on Twitter, stating that the development of the app will be discontinued, and they will take down all download links.

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

DISCONTINUATION OF THE VANCED PROJECT
Vanced has been discontinued. In the coming days, the download links will be taken down. The Discord server, Telegram chat and subreddit will stay for the time being. We know this is not something you wanted to hear, but it’s something we had to do. We want to thank you all for the support over the years.
To add to that, Vanced will likely continue to work if you already have it installed. For everyone asking why, it was due to legal reasons out of our control.
Vanced message via Discord

By 5:30 am PST, the Vanced team finally removed download links for the third-party app. They later posted a tweet for ‘alternatives’ to YouTube Vanced, and a link to the official YouTube Premium service.

Here are some alternatives to Vanced: https://t.co/wSfFoYlcfY
— Vanced Official (@YTVanced) March 13, 2022

YouTube Vanced is a popular third-party YouTube app on Android that was first developed in 2017. The app allows users to use YouTube without ads, and without needing a YouTube premium subscription. The app also offered features that were not available in the original YouTube app, such as the inclusion of the dislike counter, after YouTube disabled the feature in 2021.

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Author

Erielle Sudario

Erielle Sudario is a Digital Producer for We Got This Covered. Outside of work, she's either DM'ing a 'Dungeons and Dragons' campaign, playing video games, or building keyboards. Erielle holds a Bachelor of Communications Degree (specializing in film and journalism) from Western Sydney University and a Graduate Diploma in Radio and Podcasting from the Australian Film, Television, and Radio School.