The official YouTube app aims to satisfy the largest number of users, and of course, to promote premium services. That means that advanced parameter settings or interface customization are not a priority, and our best alternative is to replace the app. At the top of the list appears YouTube Vanced, a high-profile project that seeks to cover all those gaps ignored by the official app, from superficial customization to deeper options like changing the codec.
Many users have a love-hate relationship with YouTube, especially when they access the service using its mobile app. Lack of support on older devices, crashes, performance problems, a cluttered interface with irrelevant elements... we could go on. Personally, I usually ignore the mobile app and access the web version of YouTube using the browser, but that option is not without defects.
If you have a mobile device and want to somehow "optimize" your YouTube experience, you can always install an alternative app. One of the most recommended is YouTube Vanced, which greatly surpasses the official application and incorporates elements that we will probably never see come out of Mountain View.
YouTube Vanced: How to Improve the YouTube App
For obvious reasons, YouTube Vanced is not available on the Play Store. You will need to visit its official page and get the Vanced Manager, an administrator that will take care of enabling downloads of YouTube Vanced and YouTube Music Vanced. The Vanced Manager will ask you if you want to install both apps at the same time, and if the device has been rooted. If you don't have root, don't worry: There are no differences in its functions, and the non-root version only requires an extra step, which is to install the Vanced microG module before the apps.
Once the installation of YouTube Vanced is finished, you will probably not notice big differences in the YouTube app, but its magic is a couple of taps away. When you enter the YouTube settings, you will see a new item at the bottom called Vanced Settings. There you can:
- Force the use of the VP9 codec
- Set video quality depending on the connection and its initial speed
- Disable elements like YouTube stories and info cards
- Move comments to the top or hide them completely
- Control different aspects of advertising
- Use gestures to modify brightness or volume
- Manually configure the buffer size
- And much, much more
Its installation may seem a bit intimidating at first, but it's worth the attempt: YouTube Vanced is the best alternative to the YouTube app. The Vanced Manager is supposed to require Android 5 as a minimum, but if you have an older device, you can always roll the dice with the previous builds that the official page offers (check the manual installation guide if you have doubts).
Official site: Click here
