Android’s operating system is a major improvement and upgrade over what I encountered on the iPhone. Consequently, there is one app that has been an absolute game-changer—ReVanced. It allows for all the functionality of the YouTube app with none of the nuisances.

I switched from iOS to Android over a year ago as my daily driver, and I have had zero regrets.  In my previous article on the topic, I compared the differences between the two mobile operating systems. I continue to feel that the seamlessness of file transfers, impeccable clarity of calls, versatile chats, and concise notifications have all been fantastic from Android.

Generally, my requirements for using a particular phone as my preferred daily driver have come down to eight pertinent functions: reliability in calling, texting, emailing, calendar, navigation, web browsing, music and camera functions. Android has not only checked the right boxes but also enhanced all of these tasks in my daily life with the addition of offering modded apps.

Modded apps are apps that have been modified and enhanced to do more than their basic functions. There are multiple fantastic modded apps that I have discovered on Android, but if I must only choose one app, I will have to say it is ReVanced Manager, which upgrades both the YouTube and YouTube Music apps.

ReVanced Manager gives the ability to experience all the functionality of the YouTube and YouTube Music apps but with major improvements to the user interface (UI). One of those improvements is to eliminate all advertisements just like the Ublock Origin add-on would do in any desktop web browser. A second enhancement is eliminating all in-video sponsors and annoying interaction reminders similar to how the SponsorBlock add-on works on any desktop web browser.  

Furthermore, the buttons of the UI can be toggled on or off at will depending on whether you use those functions or not. Another beautiful part of the app is the ability to download video or audio from YouTube or YouTube Music as if you were on a desktop web browser, and being able to access and interact with those files freely.

A fifth benefit of using ReVanced is eliminating the distracting clickbait thumbnails from YouTube videos and instead replacing the thumbnails with actual frames of the video. Another nice touch is the return of the hidden dislike functionality on YouTube. Do you find YouTube Shorts distracting and wish to eliminate them? Done. ReVanced does this task also. It is truly customizable to deliver the exact content that any user desires.

Did you notice a commonality between all of the improvements that I described? The ReVanced Manager enables the two YouTube apps to give the user the beauty of the app’s UI as well as the functionality and power of using an actual computer.  It really is like a computer in the pocket. While iOS puts a tremendous amount of limitations and restrictions on its users, Android offers the world’s information to its users, which was the original intent of the internet. It’s like amplifying a smartphone with all the power of a modern computer.

When a smartphone gives full file access to the user, it truly enables them to have more control over the tasks that they can complete on their device, which is an unheard-of concept for the iPhone. I have always heard about customizable experiences on Android, while I was stuck on iPhone, but I never imagined the experience being this amazing! This is just one of the many game-changing apps that I highly recommend for everybody’s smartphone. It is currently available only for Android devices.