It took a little time for YouTube to release its own premium version to deliver on many features that users believe should be baseline on the original app including things that allow for videos and music to play whilst the phone is locked or to have the ability to download videos – it’s no surprise then that a third-party service would emerge to provide this functionality for free. It’s very common to see in all things tech that any service that can provide a similar service just better will succeed, it’s why operators like those found at casinogenie.org succeed with a wide variety of options available, why third-party browser apps generate so much interest, and to a basic level even why platforms like Spotify were able to grow so quickly by providing a streamlined solution.
(Image from gizchina.com)
The advertising for Vanced was right there in the name – marketed as YouTube Advanced but without the Ads, it served as a free and lightweight solution for those that didn’t want to pay the premium for YouTubes own service, and take advantage of these features that many believe should have come as standard but it was able to fly under the radar for quite some time as whilst it was quite well known it came as a direct download from a website rather than app store availability (not that it would be accepted on Google’s own app store too) but as users as a whole have become more tech-savvy and willing to explore alternate options, Vanced has been growing at the same rate too.
Legal issues are being cited as the reason for closure, which comes as no surprise as it has likely been on the horizon for quite some time now – those who do currently have the app installed will still be able to use it whilst it remains active but the developers have stated that with no future updates or patches possible, it’s likely Google will find a way to halt all functionality with a YouTube update in the near future – it will be a big frustration for those that have got used to the functionality too, however, going the same was as other platforms like various ad-block extensions, it seems there is a growing crackdown on additional software that adds lots of quality of life, and instead a focus to push users towards the existing premium products.
There may be alternatives that pop up in the future, but with this on the radar now they may not last for too long as it’s likely changes will come quickly to ensure the subscription service is the only option for those looking drop ads and start downloading and hopes that these will become core free features is looking even less likely now.
