Installing YouTube ReVanced to block ads on Android seems simple until something goes wrong. Most problems don’t come from the patch itself, but from how the installation, versions, and base files are managed. Here are the most common mistakes and how to avoid them.
Mistake 1: downloading the wrong APK
ReVanced doesn’t distribute a ready-to-install APK. It is applied to a base YouTube APK downloaded separately, usually from repositories like APKMirror. The classic mistake: downloading the latest version of YouTube. Patches are usually adapted to specific versions (for example, 18.x or 19.x branches), and if you install a later build, the manager will show «no patches available» or fail to compile.
Solution: check the compatibility table of the ReVanced manager before downloading. Choose an APK with the arm64-v8a architecture and the nodpi variant if your phone is modern; specific dpi variants sometimes break the signature during patching.
Mistake 2: installing ReVanced over the original YouTube
Android rejects the installation with «App not installed» because the signatures don’t match. ReVanced signs the APK with a different key than Google’s. To avoid this, you have to uninstall the YouTube app from the system, but on many phones it comes as a preinstalled app and can’t be removed from Settings.
Two real options:
- Use MicroG ReVanced (a fork of microG) and apply the MicroG support patch, which allows coexistence with the original app.
- Disable YouTube from Settings > Apps and then install ReVanced as a new app. It doesn’t work on all manufacturers: on some Xiaomi and Samsung devices the system reactivates it after updates.
Mistake 3: ads come back after a few days
This happens when you accidentally update YouTube from the Play Store. ReVanced doesn’t block ads at the network level: it patches the client. If the system restores the original version, the ads reappear. Practical recommendation: disable automatic updates only for YouTube in the Play Store and manually check every few weeks whether there are new patches.
It also happens if the Client spoof patch is not active. YouTube has been changing the way it serves ads, and some ad-blocking patches require that spoofing to keep working. If you only apply Video ads and not Client spoof, you’ll see ads on the home page and in recommendations even though the video plays cleanly.
Mistake 4: the app closes on opening or won’t load videos
Typical symptom: the app opens, shows the feed, and closes when you tap a video. It’s almost always a mismatch between the version of the base APK and the patches applied. Another frequent cause is not having applied the Vanced MicroG support patch when using MicroG. Without it, the app doesn’t get a session token and fails to load content.
If the failure appears only on some videos, check the Return YouTube Dislike or SponsorBlock patch: an aggressive configuration of the latter can cause interruptions if the server doesn’t respond.
Mistake 5: downloading ReVanced from unofficial sites
There are websites that offer an already-patched «ReVanced APK.» Besides the risk of malware, they usually include their own signatures that prevent future updates and can inject code. The recommended way is the official ReVanced manager from its GitHub repository and applying the patches yourself. It’s not harder: it’s three steps.
Limitations you should accept
ReVanced is not a stable long-term solution. It depends on internal changes to YouTube and on the patch community. There will be weeks when a patch stops working until it is updated. It also doesn’t work on all devices: on Android TV and on some modified ROMs the playback patches fail. And if you use business accounts or purchased premium content, some features may not behave the same as in the official client.
According to the project’s own documentation, support is limited to the base version indicated in each release; outside of that, there are no guarantees. Always verify the version before downloading and save the base APK that works for you so you don’t have to repeat the search if you need to reinstall.