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Vanced Discontinuation

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Re: Vanced Discontinuation

#151

Post by jesprenj »

sodality2 wrote: post #108
loxias wrote: post #107

This part jumped out at me: > The vanced team will "NEVER" make its source code public. Making the source code available on the internet can cause serious complications for us. ??? Anyone have any idea (or even guesses) as to what that's about? Does the source contain a murder confession?

The trademark issue probably was resolved with "shut down and don't release source, and we won't sue you for your past violations"

Either that, or they will continue with Vanced under another unrelated name, possibly with sponsors and monetized, and do not want any competition.

Re: Vanced Discontinuation

#152

Post by AniseAbyss »

jffry wrote: post #58
Aaargh20318 wrote: post #11

> Vanced is discontinued for "legal reasons" as vanced was infringing the logo and branding of the original YouTube app as the logo resembles the original logo in a similar way and was used without taking prior permission from Google for using the branding So if this is the actual reason, shutting down completely seems a bit of an overreaction. Why not just get a new logo and rebrand the app ?

My take is that Google wanted Vanced dead. On top of trademark problems, if the app was a modified official client then copyright is also at issue. And there's always the CFAA hammer looming. It wouldn't cost much, compared to litigation, for Google to send them a letter outlining these issues. It's possible they made Vanced an offer they couldn't refuse (i.e., shut down now and avoid litigation)

As soon as Vanced gained too much fame it was a foregone conclusion that Google would kill them.

Re: Vanced Discontinuation

#153

Post by Nextgrid »

ddaalluu2 wrote: post #130
jthrowsitaway wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

uBlock origin will fix this (assuming you're using Chrome or Firefox.)

But not on the TV or mobile. Firefox ok, but it's also browser only. Youtube Music is quite useful as a radio player. Start with one song you like and it continues with similar songs. Key is it's just music and you have a list of albums of that band/singer/etc. Overall it's good enough but not really great. Vanced was great for that. Also installed both apps on my mom's phone so she would not be irritated by ads. Bei…

Invidious will solve this problem on anything capable of running a web browser: https://github.com/iv-org/invidious

Re: Vanced Discontinuation

#154

Post by Nextgrid »

dmix wrote: post #110
ZephyrBlu wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

YouTube Premium is an actual product, but as far as I'm aware it doesn't generate much revenue for creators which I why I assumed they meant channel membership. https://www.youtube.com/premium

Offtopic but I bought YouTube Premium a few months ago and it's 100% worth the money. YouTube ads are aggressive and it turns out I used YouTube all the time. I didn't really notice until I started paying for it how much time I spent having to wait for ads to end or skipping them. Now I get angry every time I end up in YouTube via incognito when using social media and an ad plays.

Premium is definitely worth it if you want to support creators while enjoying ad-free playback. However, it doesn't solve the privacy problem at all - if anything it gives Google even more info as now they've got some verified payment details (you can't usually provide fake details otherwise the payment will fail).

Re: Vanced Discontinuation

#155

Post by Nextgrid »

asimpletune wrote: post #135

It sounds like they're making it really clear that they've "killed" the project, probably so they can just start another one that doesn't have the same issues. I wouldn't be surprised if they just form a new LLC, and transfer the old code as IP between the two, tweaking the offending assets and calling it a day.

I don't understand why it has to be an LLC. They're doing that pisses off a major company & industry, relating to copyright & computers, in a country where copyright and computer-related laws are just as insane as the idea of doing this in the open.

If they want to continue this (which I'd argue is a bad idea given they've presumably been discovered), the way to do so is to operate entirely in the underground (using Tor or other anonymization systems) and host any required infrastructure in a country that doesn't care - Russia comes to mind, even more so given the recent events.

The mere fact that they received a C&D and it had leverage over them already suggests a massive failure. Why was there a place to send a C&D to begin with? The proper legal department contact for such a project is /dev/null, so something failed big time if that C&D found its way somewhere else.

Re: Vanced Discontinuation

#156

Post by Nextgrid »

stemc43 wrote: post #142
asimpletune wrote: post #135

It sounds like they're making it really clear that they've "killed" the project, probably so they can just start another one that doesn't have the same issues. I wouldn't be surprised if they just form a new LLC, and transfer the old code as IP between the two, tweaking the offending assets and calling it a day.

that would be amazing. i really hope to not have to use firefox mobile with ublock.

Check out Invidious.

Re: Vanced Discontinuation

#157

Post by Nextgrid »

blamazon wrote: post #27
kayson wrote: post #7

I'm really sad I missed the boat on Vanced by one day. I'd heard about it for a long time and randomly decided to finally start using it only to find all the download links had been removed the day before. Youtube ads have become horrendously annoying. Does anyone know if the apks can be found on any archive site?

YouTube premium is 12 dollars a month. For me, this is worth it to remove ads and add background play and picture-in-picture.

Privacy is the main problem - though I'm not sure how Vanced fared on that front (did their modifications also neuter any spyware and malicious features from the app?).

I do not have a Google account and do not want one - Google has no place in my life other than being a malicious website I sometimes have to visit when other search engines fail.

I want to support creators and do the right thing, but this means I'd have to let an undesirable creep into my private life and provide them with valid personal details so that they can process the payment. That's not something I want to do, so alternative clients (Invidious in my case) and ad-blockers are the way to go.

Re: Vanced Discontinuation

#158

Post by ascar »

zo1 wrote: post #113
tptacek wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of retainer arrangement do you have with your IP lawyers where someone can reach out to them directly and incur billable time? I've got a couple different kinds of lawyers, and there isn't one of them you could call up and get me billed for. You might have a reasonable complaint for your lawyers about this!

They're lawyers, so this kind of setup is probably in their agreement already, and thus nothing the person could do. I'd chalk it up as a paid-for lesson and keep an eye out for it in subsequent agreements. Some call me crazy, but I always read what I'm signing before I sign, even if it's something coming from my SO to "just quickly sign", or if it's random paperwork that a teller or person just gives me while saying…

I do the same. Most people really don't expect it, that's how uncommon that is. When I signed a work contract at an university it was filled with legal text and obligations, mostly in regards to expected work ethics. Nothing actually insane I was opposed to, but it was about 20 pages of mostly dense legal text and excerpts from state law I wasn't sent in advance and it took me nearly 2 hours to work through. You would expect everyone to actually carefully read that! It's your work contract and literally law you have to follow! The HR lady didn't expect me to read it and apparently wasn't aware how long it takes to actually read everything, so she ended up waiting 30 minutes before she left the room and told me to tell her when I'm done xD. Later I asked her if it's uncommon and she told me I'm actually the first one to sit there and carefully read everything before signing.

Re: Vanced Discontinuation

#159

Post by roastedpeacock »

franga2000 wrote: post #145
shabier wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a good approach, I like it a lot. Do know a project that has already applied that flow?

Not the online or browser-based signing, no, but LuckyPatcher lets you patch APKs locally (I think their specific implementation requires root, but that wouldn't be necessary if APKs were downloaded in-app). I was actually really surprised when I first found Vanced that it wasn't using something like LP and instead distributing pre-modded APKs.

LP is exactly what I was referring to by my previous comment.

Re: Vanced Discontinuation

#160

Post by Nextgrid »

silentsea90 wrote: post #12
kayson wrote: post #7

I'm really sad I missed the boat on Vanced by one day. I'd heard about it for a long time and randomly decided to finally start using it only to find all the download links had been removed the day before. Youtube ads have become horrendously annoying. Does anyone know if the apks can be found on any archive site?

Do you subscribe to anything on the internet? Perhaps Spotify, your internet connection, Netflix? Have you considered their premium offering, or do you think YT should be free and without ads?

Most other services I subscribe to don't have the incentive and/or resources to be creepy and stalk me everywhere. They're happy to take my money, give me the product/service and leave it at that.

YouTube's parent company both has the incentive and the resources. Giving them your real personal info (as required for payment processing) and some money on a silver platter is not an idea I'm comfortable with.

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