YouTube Vanced

YouTube Vanced was a popular modified version of the official YouTube app for Android that offered enhanced features unavailable in the original app. It allowed users to block ads, enable background playback, and customize their viewing experience without requiring a YouTube Premium subscription. Key features included ad-blocking for a seamless viewing experience, background playback to listen to content while using other apps or with the screen off, customizable video quality and playback speed settings, return YouTube dislike counts, dark/black themes, and SponsorBlock integration to automatically skip sponsored segments in videos. The app also supported picture-in-picture mode and swipe controls for brightness and volume. However, YouTube Vanced was discontinued in March 2022 due to legal issues with Google. While no longer officially available or supported, it demonstrated strong user demand for enhanced YouTube features beyond the official app's capabilities.