I pay for Spotify Premium and Netflix and have considered adding YouTube Premium to the list. I enjoy watching tech reviews, interviews, and music videos, but hate having to sit through ads that are getting very long.
YouTube charges £12 a month for the privilege of ad-free videos that you can play in the background or download to watch without internet connection.
Most of the Android alternatives offer half-baked solutions, and the experience is not nearly as good as Google’s. Enter Vanced, an unofficial YouTube client that comes with all the Premium glory, free of charge.
Vance is an exact copy of YouTube Premium. Play a video, exit the app, and keep the playback on a floating window. You can also tap the headphone icon to play the audio.
Lock your phone, and the audio keeps playing. The only downside is that you have to install a complement to log in to your Google account to access all your playlists.
Vanced also comes with the option to download YouTube videos. Two elements that are missing include Originals (YouTube’s original content) and Google Play Music.
We all know the official client is always the best, but Vanced is a very interesting clone that you should try before handing Google your money.
The apk is available online and requires the “Unknown sources” permission to be enabled before installing it. What do you think about Vance? Did you like it?