Not even speaking about all the ads in the default YouTube app without a subscription.
The app is basically useless in my opinion. It defaults to freaking 240p for every video. My phone is definitively not the problem, also not the Internet connection. Watching in Firefox on the same connection gives me normal expected quality.
This was better on some "feature phones" without touchscreen!!! YouTube app works and playback is in 720p / 1080p
You default to 240 because your internet sucks or you need to change the default setting. I get 720 all the time and could go higher if I wanted. I never see 240.
But this is a real issue. Video playback on my phone usually starts at 480p but on my laptop it starts at 1080p. Both are connected to the same network.
Tbf my official YouTube also defaults to some shitty quality even on wifi, on my desktop and tv it always goes to 4k.
I've also configured it to high picture quality or whatever.
I've been using YouTube Vanced for years, and now , after Vanced got killed. it's a bit tedious to set up on non rooted phones, but even then, it's such a huge upgrade. no ads, let you pick your own quality, SponsorBlock built in, background play, lots of payout control options.
I remember Vanced being simpler, only making you download the patched app, where ReVanced wants you to uninstall your YouTube updates, find the APK of a specific version, then patch it. not exactly hard for most enthusiasts but still out of reach for most. absolutely worth it though!
the official website is revanced.app . in case of doubt, check https://github.com/revanced. fake websites are sadly always an issue with popular apps that aren't on the main stores
This fucking infuriates me whenever i dont have an adblocker available. Since my connection speed is sub par, buffering is frequent unless it's at a low quality. So to watch a video without buffering, i gotta set the video to low quality (240-480p) only for A FUCKING 1080P UNSKIPPABLE AD TO JUST CUT IN AND PLAY PERFECTLY FOR 15 SECONDS before casually dropping me back down to 360p, only after buffering once more when the ad ends before the fucking video finally resumes
I would not be able to use YouTube without premium these days since there are so many ads . I find on my phone it usually plays 720 if I'm connected to wifi , there is an option in the settings to pick what quality it will play for wifi or data
Yeah, I switched to Invidious a long time ago. If you want an app, I'd also recommend NewPipe (for Android), and either Yattee (for iOS) or Piped (as a PWA).
So this is not some corner case problem for me...
I honestly do not care, rarely watch on the phone.
Maybe because it depresses me that technology is moving backwards in some sense 😐
Yes, but there are drawbacks to each one. For example, with new pipe, if I find a channel that I like I have to remember to like it on all of my devices individually.
I'd much rather use the mobile YouTube as it works perfectly and I can use any add-on I wish to modify the experience without issue.
On mobile, it usually manages to set itself to my desired resolution, on a modded client, but sometimes youtube just does unexplainable things. I have an addon on desktop that forces playback at a specific res, and even then it would casually decide to play 360p
YouTube sucks, period. The best innovation they had recently was copying a Chinese company douyin and making shorts while for years they were pushing long form videos to creators and punishing short form videos 💀 dead brains in YouTube executives
I've given up YouTube almost entirely for PeerTube at this point. If I wasn't to watch a video, I use the *built in grabber and it grabs the video. Then, I can always refer back to PT instead of YT.
Go with Invidious. inv.tux.pizza works for me when I'm on a browser. (I swear I'm not affiliated with them 😅.) On my desktop and laptop, I use FreeTube because it allows me to track my watch history and subscriptions locally, and it has Sponsorblock and DeArrow optionally integrated. Plus, it's just nice to separate YouTube, which I often watch like TV, from active browsing tasks. On mobile I typically just use Invidious in Firefox.