Ads, age checks and Premium prices: what YouTube app users complain abou (2)
Shared report · updated Oct 1, 2026
See what the world is watching -- from the hottest music videos to what’s popular in gaming, fashion, beauty, news, learning and more.
Photo & Video · Free · out since 2012 · from the App Store descriptionSample2,406 reviews797 Google Play · 1,609 App Store
Which reviewsNatural mixCustom
DatesMar 1, 2025 to Oct 1, 2026Not every store reached back to the start
Where5 App Store countriesevery language; Google Play is global
Top praise: content variety and depth and works reliably. Top complaint: ads (in 42% of complaints), then crashes and bugs.
2,406Reviews analyzedposted over 43 days
60%Complain1,455 reviews
36%Praise856 reviews
2%Says they're quittingstopped or quitting now; <1% more cancelled a paid plan
What goes wrong
Ads41%
Unusable on phone, constant scam ads and trap links that redirect to unknown sites
Crashes and bugs20%
The app hasn’t been working for me for the last 2 days. I just have a blank screen
Bad update or redesign9%
Thumbnail view has disappeared. Video takes up whole screen and impossible to scroll. App is totally unusable.
What goes well
General praise63%
My life would be incomplete without the YT app
Content variety and depth13%
YouTube is very good because you have a big variety and you can go to somebody talking about squishy’s to a new game release And I think that YouTube is good app 🙂😗😀😄😃😃
Fun and engaging10%
This keeps me entertained all day long and it’s the reason I’m not bored to death
Their categories
Yes or no questions the person who shared it asked of every review
Age checks1%
BUG: Restricted mode is automatically turned on and can't be turned off. At random, a video's comments are available, but 99% are inaccessible.
Playback problems9%
Every day I have the issue that in landscape mode the video is upside down and about once a week I get audio and video from one video and simultaneously oudio from another video.
Premium price3%
But the thing is all the songs/videos have ads.
Shorts and recommendations8%
unnecessary change making youtube unusable unless you turn on recommendations which I don't want to
Too many ads37%
Unusable on phone, constant scam ads and trap links that redirect to unknown sites
What they use it for
416 of 2,406 reviewers said; shares are of them; 3 more with a free account
Social posts3%
Professional work1%
What they ask for
209 reviews ask for something; 5 more with a free account
Bring something back43%
New feature or option42%
Who is saying it
The biggest clear differences between audiences; 6 more with a free account
Star rating5 stars: say they're quitting less often than everyone (under 1% vs 2%).
Star rating1 star: say they're quitting 2.6x as often as everyone (4% vs 2%).