5 Best YouTube Vanced Alternatives for Android That REALLY Work
YouTube Vanced was the best solution for a premium ad-free YouTube experience without spending a penny. But Google didn’t like it, and that led to the permanent shutdown of this great third-party service. Thankfully, developers around the world have released multiple YouTube Vanced alternatives.
While it’s true that we now have more third-party ad-free YouTube solutions than ever, another truth is that most of them don’t work. We did the hard work and picked the 5 best solutions that actually work, so you don’t have to.
So, here are the 5 best YouTube alternatives for Android smartphones that work.
Also Read:
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Disclaimer:
We don’t encourage our readers to rely on these solutions. Getting a YouTube Premium membership gives you many additional features, and it also supports your favorite creators.
1. Brave Browser
This is probably the easiest solution to an ad-free YouTube experience without getting a YouTube Premium subscription. Brave browser has a powerful built-in ad-blocking solution. You can also sign into your Google account to access your subscriptions.
You can create a shortcut for the YouTube website for quicker access. To do this, open youtube.com, tap on three dots in the bottom-right corner, click Add to Home screen, and tap Add.
You can also enable background playback in Brave by going to Brave Settings > Media and toggling on Background play.
2. NewPipe
NewPipe is a free, lightweight, and open-source Android app with plenty of YouTube Premium features. You can watch ad-free videos and download them for offline use. NewPipe also offers pop-up player support and watch history.
Even though it doesn’t support Google account sign-in, you can still subscribe to your favorite YouTube channel to discover new videos. One of the best things about NewPipe I like the most is the ability to subscribe to YouTube playlists. Even the official YouTube app lacks this feature.
3. Revanced Extended
If you want a nearly YouTube Vanced-like app experience with advanced features like Youtube Dislike count, hide shorts section, SponsorBlock, and more, use RVX Manager to patch the official YouTube app, which will give you the Revanced Extended app.
RVX Manager is an open-source app that can be downloaded from GitHub for free.
If you want a complete step-by-step guide on how to patch YouTube with RVX Manager, let me know in the comments below.
4. SkyTube
SkyTube is another good alternative to YouTube Vanced featuring a simple user interface. Similar to NewPipe, it doesn’t have Google sign-in support but lets you subscribe to channels. You can also download videos for offline use.
The app also features Sponsor Block and a return of the YouTube dislike counter. Sadly, the video player has no screen orientation shortcut, and double tapping doesn’t skip 10 seconds. You must hold your finger on the screen and move left or right to skip some part of the video.
5. LibreTube
LibreTube has a better user interface and feels smoother compared to SkyTube, but the videos sometimes take too long to play. This is the reason why we placed it below SkyTube. You get all the necessary features like video downloading, subscribe feature, and Sponsor Block.
When you open LibreTube for the first time, make sure to choose the server with the highest uptime, otherwise you might experience a lot of buffering.
Best YouTube Vanced Alternatives in 2024
Picking the best one from the list comes down to your choice and preference. If blocking ads is all you want, Brave browser is good. However, if you also wish to use the download feature, NewPipe could be a good fit.
For advanced features and smoother animations, I’d prefer Revanced Extended. If you don’t like any of these three, you still have two left to try – SkyTube and LibreTube.
