iPhone Is YouTube Premium worth it?

[WilsonNM]

Does anyone else here subscribe to YouTube Premium? Have you found it to be worth the cost?

I primarily watch YouTube on my phone and my Apple TV. Because of that, I've never been able to block ads and I'm wondering if it might be worth subscribing for the ad-blocking feature and for the ability to leave the app on iOS with the video still playing.

I've started seeing more talk about Premium after YouTube recently started their "crackdown" on desktop browser ad-blockers. I don't watch YouTube in a desktop browser much, so I hadn't noticed, but that might also motivate me to subscribe. At this point I find I watch YouTube as much as any streaming app.

 

[winxmac]

Try YouTune.cc on a mobile/desktop browser...

I use Firefox with uBlock Origin installed...

If YouTube is your main streaming website and you don't want to install add-ons or visit alternative websites [like the one above], and you don't want interruption caused by ads, then go for it...

However, if you have an android device, there are some apps you can try for skipping ads...

 

[cateye]

Totally depends how important YouTube is to you, how much sitting through ads bothers you, and how important it is to you to support the creators you watch.

For me, it was a no-brainer. I hate ads, but YouTube is my primary entertainment medium, and also where I most often go for instruction/learning/discovery for my various hobbies. I tend to follow small creators who don't have millions of subscribers or large organizations behind them, so it's important to me to know that my views are still supporting their work even if I don't want to sit through ads.

You do get YouTube Music thrown in as well which may or may not be valuable to you. I've been a Spotify user since the day they came to the U.S. so I have no desire to switch, but sometimes having access to a second music streaming platform comes in handy when you want a hard separation between certain listening environments or styles of music.

The other nice perk is the ability to download videos for offline viewing. I love this for when I'm on airplanes, but again... might not be that big of a deal if you don't travel much.

Like anything, value is an individual question. I've found it to be a great value and well worth the recurring expense. YMMV.

 

[WilsonNM]

Thank you for the responses.

I did forget about the inclusion of YouTube Music and downloaded videos. While those wouldn't be crucial for me, they're nice perks that I'm sure I would take advantage of. (So far, my usual travel entertainment is downloaded podcast episodes).

I'm still on the fence, but I'm leaning more toward subscribing than I was when I posted this question.

 

[pacorob]

I would suggest for iOS and iPadOS to be looking into some great alternative third party apps as available in the App Store:

- Musi (focus on music but also works for video, pay once 5.99 dollar to remove ads also works in background, Apple Automation playlist support)
- Video Lite (remove ads 0.99 dollar/euro per month or 1.49 dollar / 1.99 euro for 3 months)

I know that Video Lite also support AirPlay and Chromecast casting. Probably you can't find the app in Apple TV though (I don't own one to check myself).

I do want to odd that there are no guarantees that these 3rd party apps remain available in the coming years as the official one. Both have been around for quite a few years (especially Musi) and I thought it was worth the money. I originally paid once (9.99 euro) for Video Lite when it was still available.

 

[KevKM]

I hate ads so that alone was definitely worth it to me. On the plus side I'm also getting high quality music videos and ambient music feeds sans commercials. In the end, I think it really depends on your specific use case.

 

[PegasusTenma]

Does anyone else here subscribe to YouTube Premium? Have you found it to be worth the cost?

I primarily watch YouTube on my phone and my Apple TV. Because of that, I've never been able to block ads and I'm wondering if it might be worth subscribing for the ad-blocking feature and for the ability to leave the app on iOS with the video still playing.

I've started seeing more talk about Premium after YouTube recently started their "crackdown" on desktop browser ad-blockers. I don't watch YouTube in a desktop browser much, so I hadn't noticed, but that might also motivate me to subscribe. At this point I find I watch YouTube as much as any streaming app.

For me it absolutely is because I consume a ton of YouTube daily on my iPhone, iPad and Android TV. But that is my personal experience, since I prefer the short entertainment value of YT in comparison to starting a new tv show on Netflix or something (if I do, then it tends to consume me for entire days until finishing said show).

YT Premium also has this little stat counter that tells you how many ad-free hours have you watched. For me is 3070 hours, or around 127 days worth of content. Imagine how much time of my life ads would have robbed me in that time.

 

[floral]

I don't think you should buy YouTube Premium.

If you hadn't noticed, uBlock Origin (one of the most popular adblockers) is really quick to get past any new adblocker detection/prevention Google puts out. If you do a bit of searching, you can find out how to bypass this adblock prevention online using uBlock, with a few simple steps.

The price is also really not worth it, about $16.99/month last time I checked just to watch some videos people upload out of fun. Subscriptions are also really yucky since they add up a lot over time in my findings... And lastly, I don't think Premium actually supports creators. If it did, I think a lot more YouTubers would beg for people watching to buy it.

 

[cateye]

Oh, where do we begin...

The price is also really not worth it,

Personal judgement. Everyone needs to make their own decisions what which costs are worth it to them, whether we're talking about a YouTube subscription or a latte at Starbucks.

just to watch some videos people upload out of fun.

Yes, there are lots and lots of videos on YouTube that are just people uploading nonsense out of fun. There are just as many videos professionally produced by people teaching a subject, sharing an experience, telling a story, or putting forth an argument or theory. As with any large library of content, what you get out of it is commensurate with the effort you put into discovering that which has value to you.

Subscriptions are also really yucky since they add up a lot over time in my findings...

Everyone has their own budget to consider, certainly. $15 a month is a lot to some, nothing to others. Unless advice on MacRumors now needs to take into consideration lecturing people on their financial stability, I'm not certain this is the place for us to enforce our conclusions on others.

And lastly, I don't think Premium actually supports creators.

Completely wrong.

Look, everyone has their own decision to make on how important YouTube (or any source of creative content) is to them and what they're willing to pay for that experience, from zero to $15 a month. And I'm not here to tell you or anyone otherwise. But at least don't make up specious arguments to justify your own decisions.

 

[WilsonNM]

I did ultimately decide to subscribe. I've only had Premium for a couple of days and already I'm appreciating it. Not having to sit through multiple ads while watching YouTube on the TV is greatly appreciated. This became more desirable to me after I got my new TV and started watching YouTube on it with more frequency. As stated, I do seem to use YouTube as much as any other streaming service (and more so than certain ones).

 

[floral]

Urggghh. This hurts to watch.

Have fun with Premium, I guess. But if you ever regret purchasing it, I told you so :|

 

[Apple_Robert]

There are several apps one can use to block ads on the phone. I use 1Blocker. For Apple TV, I use SwizzVPN. There is no way I would allow a company to brow beat with me ads until I relented and paid them for a subscription, especially Google.

 

[MisterSavage]

I did ultimately decide to subscribe. I've only had Premium for a couple of days and already I'm appreciating it. Not having to sit through multiple ads while watching YouTube on the TV is greatly appreciated. This became more desirable to me after I got my new TV and started watching YouTube on it with more frequency. As stated, I do seem to use YouTube as much as any other streaming service (and more so than certain ones).

I resisted for so long and wasn't sure if it was worth it and now it's one of the last subscriptions that I would cancel. I watch it way way more than other streaming services now. Having YouTube Music has been unexpectedly nice also.

 

[cateye]

There is no way I would allow a company to brow beat with me ads until I relented and paid them for a subscription

I mean, I can see from your "contributor" badge that it worked when MacRumors did it.

Obviously, I jest: I'm sure you subscribe to MacRumors to support what MacRumors does, which is great. It's a nice alternative to giving them your eyeballs through ad pageviews. That's how I look at YouTube: I want to support the creators I watch, but don't want to do it through advertising. For some, I've joined their Patreon, or occasionally kick them back a few dollars via BuyMeACoffee.com, or use their Amazon affiliate links if I need to buy something. For the rest, I count on my Premium subscription to take the place of ad views, which it does.

It's all good. People have their own thresholds of value, and limits to what they can pay. As MisterSavage said, though, YT-P would be the last streaming service I would cancel if money suddenly became tight. For others, that might be AppleTV+, or Netflix, or HBO Max. It's great that we can pick and choose and freely subscribe and unsubscribe. Way better than the old days of having to buy some giant cable package full of crap we'll never watch and with none of the freedom that comes with internet-based media.

 

[DomC]

It’s interesting that I subscribe on my desktop device the price for a family membership is cheaper than if I try to subscribe on a mobile device using the Apple store (the default method).

 

[TimmerSuds]

It’s interesting that I subscribe on my desktop device the price for a family membership is cheaper than if I try to subscribe on a mobile device using the Apple store (the default method).

Youtube recently changed their monthly fees and now charge more if you subscribe through Apple to make up for the fee they have to pay Apple.

I cancelled my subscription through Apple and signed up directly with Google to avoid the higher monthly fee.

 

[XboxEvolved]

When I grew up watching TV I treated commercials like piss breaks, so a few dumb ads that are mostly skippable have never bothered me.

 

[DomC]

I noticed some ads now getting longer (15 seconds)and more prevalent. As for a piss break, I just hit Pause!

It's interesting that only having Premium for a short time, I realize I don't notice not having commercials because I never think of having commercials during movies etc. In other words, the commercials are annoying when played, but without them it just seems like normal viewing. If that makes sense!

 

[cateye]

Yeah, I think it totally depends on your tolerance for advertising. I grew up in the era of "there's 4 channels on the TV, and all except one have constant commercials." So you think I'd be used to it. But really, what it did is made me entirely intolerant of my viewing being interrupted by someone trying to sell me a product I will never buy. I loathe in-video advertising with the heat of a thousand suns. I understand someone needs to pay for content, yes, and I'm perfectly happy with it being me paying for what's most important to me. That's a fair exchange. And every single morally bankrupt marketer and advertiser can go pound sand.

 

[MisterSavage]

Yeah, I think it totally depends on your tolerance for advertising. I grew up in the era of "there's 4 channels on the TV, and all except one have constant commercials." So you think I'd be used to it. But really, what it did is made me entirely intolerant of my viewing being interrupted by someone trying to sell me a product I will never buy. I loathe in-video advertising with the heat of a thousand suns. I understand someone needs to pay for content, yes, and I'm perfectly happy with it being me paying for what's most important to me. That's a fair exchange. And every single morally bankrupt marketer and advertiser can go pound sand.

100%. My tolerance is zero. The absolute worst IMO is Paramount+, which shows you ads you can't skip on their "ad free" plan.

 

[WilsonNM]

Yeah, I think it totally depends on your tolerance for advertising. I grew up in the era of "there's 4 channels on the TV, and all except one have constant commercials." So you think I'd be used to it. But really, what it did is made me entirely intolerant of my viewing being interrupted by someone trying to sell me a product I will never buy. I loathe in-video advertising with the heat of a thousand suns. I understand someone needs to pay for content, yes, and I'm perfectly happy with it being me paying for what's most important to me. That's a fair exchange. And every single morally bankrupt marketer and advertiser can go pound sand.

Part of what pushed me to subscribe was the fact that many YouTubers I watch (in fact, I would say most) include ads in their videos, in the form of shouting out a sponsor, often for a couple minutes of the video. Having to watch five or so ads scattered throughout the video on top of that was simply too much.

 

[pacorob]

Part of what pushed me to subscribe was the fact that many YouTubers I watch (in fact, I would say most) include ads in their videos, in the form of shouting out a sponsor, often for a couple minutes of the video. Having to watch five or so ads scattered throughout the video on top of that was simply too much.

Some great YouTubers I like such as 'Not Just Bikes' , 'Joe Scott' and 'Bright Sun Films' also host their videos on Nebula (and promote this in their YT videos). I recently decided to step in for a year since there was a serious discount (use nebula.tv/accountname e.g. notjustbikes) (30 dollar a year). It has offline support and no ads but is limited (of course) to only certain YouTubers.

I think it's worth it with the discount but not sure if I keep it after the year. Since I use the YouTube Lite client as mentioned in this topic before (which I bought at the time for 9.99 euro once, no longer available) I had hoped there was more exclusive content available on Nebula but I've noticed the majority of videos are also on YT.

 

[contacos]

I got it from Ukraine for 2€ per months. Never looked back haha

 

[pvalerio]

SwizzTube is an adfree YouTube client for iOS and Mac, just 1$ a month or 20$ lifetime.

 

[wicked271]

Saw some weird ads for games that keeps popping while I was watching youtube and decided to get the premium coz kids in our house are always on youtube. Shared it with my family (up to 5) and it's really worth it. It's like $5 a month but already good for 5 users