Earlier this month, the developers of Vanced — an unofficial feature-rich YouTube app for Android — announced that the project would shut down permanently, following a cease-and-desist letter from Google. While existing installs will continue to work until YouTube changes its API, it’s likely only a matter of time before that happens.
Contrary to popular belief, Vanced didn’t just block pre-roll video ads or unlock YouTube Premium features like background playback. Even as a long-time YouTube Premium subscriber myself, I found that Vanced greatly improved the platform’s overall usability. With the app now destined for the grave, however, I’m bracing myself for the adjustment period that going back to the official app will entail. To that end, here are the six Vanced features I will miss the most.