As for what these were, they are modified versions of the official YouTube app. What has been taken down is the full modified app files (.ipa) ready to install on an iPhone, not the source code to the tweaks that are in the repos.
These modifications do things like replicate the paid YouTube Premium features, from the uYou features list for example:
Ad-Free Browsing: Bid farewell to interruptions and enjoy seamless video playback without annoying advertisements.
Background Playback: Keep your favorite videos running in the background while you multitask or lock your device.
Video and Audio Downloads: Download videos, shorts, and audio tracks in various formats, including MP4 and WebM, for offline viewing and listening pleasure.
[…]
You can see why Google would want to have them taken down. They aren’t even a re-implementation with their own code/UI like NewPipe.
Can someone please translate what that means?
As for what these were, they are modified versions of the official YouTube app. What has been taken down is the full modified app files (.ipa) ready to install on an iPhone, not the source code to the tweaks that are in the repos.
These modifications do things like replicate the paid YouTube Premium features, from the uYou features list for example:
You can see why Google would want to have them taken down. They aren’t even a re-implementation with their own code/UI like NewPipe.