YTKillerPlus Downloads Are Off — What to Use Instead

Here is an odd one. YTKillerPlus spent a long time as one of the YouTube tweaks people actually named when you asked — the one you installed to save things. Then, in the current build, the person who makes it switched the downloads off on purpose and told everyone to use a different tweak instead.

Not broken by a YouTube update. Not lost to a signing problem. Turned off, deliberately, by the developer.

What actually happened

The build we carry is YTKillerPlus 6.1 for YouTube 21.35.3, published 30 August 2026. Its release notes say it plainly:

use YTKACE for downloading. dev intentionally broke download feature.

The same notes drop SideStore support and warn that the bundled extra tweaks can be unstable on newer YouTube versions. No reason is given for the download change, and it is not our place to guess at one — but the practical effect is clear enough: the feature that made this tweak worth choosing is no longer in it, and the author is pointing at a neighbour.

We kept the app in the catalogue with that written on its page rather than quietly leaving it up as a downloader. If you came here to save videos, this is not the build.

What it still does

Stripped of downloads, YTKillerPlus is still a working ad-free YouTube:

• Ad-free playback, with in-video sponsor segments skipped
• Background and Picture-in-Picture playback
• Return YouTube Dislikes restored
• Playback speed, quality and volume controls

Two limits worth knowing before you install: builds from 21.34.3 onwards need iOS 17 or later, and 4K playback requires an A16 chip or newer — the high-resolution component is not bundled.

What to use instead

Three builds in the catalogue cover what YTKillerPlus stopped covering. They are not interchangeable — pick by what you actually do with YouTube.

1. YTKACE — if you came for downloads

The one YTKillerPlus itself points at, and the closest replacement. Video and audio downloads with a choice of where they land — its own library, your Photos app, or a prompt each time — plus iSponsorBlock, a playback speed slider, volume boost, a Posts tab in the navigation bar and full-resolution saving of community post images. Our build tracks YouTube 21.36.6.

One quirk to remember: after each install, open the tweak settings and press the checkmark once, otherwise background playback, Picture-in-Picture and casting stay off.

2. YouMod — if sponsor segments are what bother you

YouMod’s SponsorBlock is native rather than a bundled dylib, covers all nine segment categories with a separate action for each, and includes the Highlight category that iSponsorBlock does not support. Downloads, background and Picture-in-Picture playback, dislikes and the usual quality, speed and volume controls are all there too, gathered into one settings screen.

3. uYou — if you want the plain version of all of it

The long-running one. Ad-free playback with sponsor segments skipped, background and Picture-in-Picture, downloads for offline watching, and extra quality, speed and volume controls — no unusual angle, just the full set without ceremony.

Why a tweak can change under you

This is worth sitting with for a second, because it is the actual lesson of the case. A YouTube tweak is one person’s project, rebuilt by hand against each YouTube release. Whoever maintains it decides what goes in — and, as here, what comes out. There is no release contract, no deprecation notice, and no obligation to keep the feature you installed it for.

What you can do is notice quickly. A catalogue that republishes builds and writes down what changed is the difference between finding out today and finding out in three months, when you reach for the download button and it is gone.

How to install any of them

On builds.io each of these installs like a normal App Store download — tap GET, install, sign in with your usual Google account. No PC, and no developer account of your own to keep alive. When you add a new device, Apple runs a one-time “processing” step: most devices are ready within a day, and some take up to three days while Apple works through them. It happens once, and every install after that is instant.

Still weighing options? We compared YouTube Plus, the OLED tweak and YouTube Music, and there is a full write-up on what YouMod does. For everything else worth installing this way, see the best apps to sideload on iOS 26.