Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
User consensusAlternativesIs it worth it?
The verdict on

YouTube

45
User verdict / 100 High confidence Divided

YouTube remains a popular platform for a wide variety of content, but recent updates have significantly degraded the user experience due to an overwhelming number of unskippable ads and persistent app stability issues.

4.7★ lifetime (48,037,282) Free to download since 2012 by Google LLC updated 0.4 mo ago recent negative 42% 120 reviews across 3 regions
Excessive Ads App Crashing/Bugs UI/Feature Changes Premium Value Content Variety
5★55
4★13
3★19
2★17
1★46
recent reviews across 3 regions, vs the 4.7★ lifetime average

YouTube is a widely used app for watching diverse video content, from entertainment to educational material. However, recent user reviews highlight a sharp increase in ad frequency and duration, alongside recurring problems with app crashes and broken features, leading to widespread frustration.

What users like

  • Offers a vast variety of content, from music and entertainment to educational videos and tutorialsR14R33R45R52
  • Considered an essential platform for many users for daily viewing and background noiseR4R2R112
  • Generally perceived as a safe platform for children due to content moderationR12

What users complain about

  • Excessive and frequent ads, often unskippable and stacked, severely disrupt the viewing experienceR9R10R15R25
  • App frequently crashes upon opening or during use, making it unusable for manyR54R61R62R66
  • Premium subscription does not consistently resolve issues like downloads not working or app crashesR18R91R98
  • Lack of a dislike button on Shorts and other content is frustrating for users and affects content recommendationsR71R87R88R90
  • Poor user interface changes, including difficulty reordering playlists and missing casting functionalityR26R59R94R115
  • Issues with account functionality, such as broken 2FA and inability to sign in on secondary devicesR34
  • Some users report inappropriate or violent ads, with no effective reporting mechanismR19R24R49

Latest update · v21.26.4

What the developer says changed (the verdict above weighs this against what reviewers report):

Fixed bugs, improved performance, drank way too much coffee.

Recurring themes

Excessive Ads negative
Users are highly frustrated with the increasing frequency, duration, and unskippable nature of ads, often encountering multiple ads in a row, even on short videos. This significantly degrades the viewing experience and pushes users away from the platform.R9R10R15R25
App Crashing/Bugs negative
Many recent reviews report severe app instability, with YouTube frequently crashing upon launch or during use. This issue persists despite developer claims of 'fixed bugs' in the latest update, making the app unusable for some.R5R54R61R62
Premium Value negative
Users question the value of YouTube Premium, as some report that paid features like downloads do not work correctly, and the subscription does not always prevent app crashes or other bugs.R18R91R98
UI/Feature Changes negative
Recent updates have introduced disliked UI changes, such as the removal of the dislike button on Shorts, difficulty reordering playlists, and the disappearance of the casting button, leading to user frustration and a perceived degradation of the app's functionality.R26R59R71R87
Content Variety positive
Despite the issues, users still appreciate YouTube for its vast and diverse content library, covering everything from music and entertainment to educational material and tutorials.R14R33R45R52

Who it's for

YouTube is for users who value a vast library of video content, from educational tutorials to entertainment and music, and are willing to tolerate frequent advertisements or pay for a premium subscription R14R33R45. It is not for users who expect a seamless, ad-free experience without paying, or those who are easily frustrated by app crashes and broken features R54R61.

Evidence note: The recent reviews skew heavily negative, particularly regarding ads and app stability, which contrasts sharply with the high lifetime rating. This indicates a significant negative trajectory in user satisfaction due to recent changes.

Frequently asked

Are there too many ads on YouTube?
Yes, many recent reviews indicate that there are too many ads on YouTube, with users reporting frequent, unskippable, and stacked advertisements that severely disrupt the viewing experience, even on short videos R9R10R15R25.
Does the YouTube app crash often?
Yes, many recent users report that the YouTube app frequently crashes upon opening or during use, making it difficult or impossible to watch videos R54R61R62R66.
Is YouTube Premium worth it?
Based on recent reviews, the value of YouTube Premium is questionable for some users, as issues like downloads not working or app crashes are still reported even with a subscription R18R91R98.
Why was the dislike button removed from YouTube Shorts?
While the exact reason for the removal of the dislike button on Shorts is not stated in the reviews, users express frustration that it was removed, as it helped them filter content and inform the algorithm R71R87R88R90.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R14] 5/5 · GB Variety with good content: Here is where one finds anything and everything in one place. From art & culture to news and health + cooking tips.
  2. [R33] 5/5 · GB I love youtobe: I love all the videos and that there is millions of thing to watch
  3. [R45] 5/5 · GB Great platform: Really easy to use. Loads of material available.
  4. [R52] 5/5 · CA Me when: me when knee surgery is tomorrow jokes aside i love the content on here and its great for listening to music made by artists and watching people play video games
  5. [R4] 5/5 · GB Music: Can’t live without it.
  6. [R2] 5/5 · GB Good: I use background noise to go to sleep it’s very relaxing for me
  7. [R112] 5/5 · AU W YouTube: I can’t eat without YouTube any more
  8. [R12] 5/5 · GB FIVE STARS ⭐️: This app is really good for chilling and just watching videos of your fav YouTuber. No inappropriate things on here cos otherwise it will get blocked, so if your kid would like YouTube just so you know it is very safe
  9. [R9] 2/5 · GB Come on dude: Why are we unable to skip both ads now? Only being able to proceed to the next ad is so lame and it’s ALWAYS two ads in a row now
  10. [R10] 4/5 · GB Almost perfect: The app would be better if they would STOP interrupting the videos and our time with the pointless and boring ads. I miss the time when we could select a video and we would just watch and enjoy with no interruptions.
  11. [R15] 1/5 · GB Dr: Too much advertising
  12. [R25] 2/5 · GB Too much ads: To much ads
  13. [R54] 3/5 · CA P YouTube: you have got to fix this crashing that YouTube does all the time. I am busy making a playlist I get kicked out. I have to start all over again and again and again and again and again and again because it’s always crashing every few minutes. It’s in very low taste to allow your app to be doing this for so long will you never listen it has to be fixed that’s all there. Is you charge us ev
  14. [R61] 1/5 · CA Kept on crashing: Re-installed like 7 times ran a diagnostic test nothing but kept on crashing this is not good Fix it please
  15. [R62] 1/5 · CA Keeps crashing.: Keeps crashing upon opening the app. Have to delete it and reinstall it almost every time.
  16. [R66] 1/5 · CA Not good: YouTube keeps crashing recently
  17. [R18] 2/5 · GB Don’t bother with premium: 2 stars don’t bother wasting your money when downloads don’t even work
  18. [R91] 1/5 · CA Premium subscriber isnt worth it: I pay so i can download the songs for when i have low or no signal, for some time now we cant shuffle or repeat a song or play list from the downloads But TODAY now even the normal non downloaded play lists no longer have shuffle or repeat!!!!!! Im giving up and switching to apple.
  19. [R98] 2/5 · CA What happened: This app used to be perfect and through a series of updates it now sucks. Constantly disconnects from casting or tries to connect to the wrong device even though it was connected to the right one before. Videos don’t play or pause randomly. Also if I put it on a playlist it’ll either turn off completely or play random videos before finishing the playlist. Buying premium doesn’t fix
  20. [R71] 1/5 · CA Bring back dislike button: Why’d you remove dislike button on shorts ?
  21. [R87] 1/5 · CA Bring back the dislike: Bring back the damn dislike button
  22. [R88] 2/5 · CA A lot of it sucks, but there’s some small good parts too: They genuinely ruined this app Two stars is the maximum I am able to give to this app currently. The only reason why I’m not giving it one is because I couldn’t find any alternatives that have the same content They completely ruined YouTube shorts everyone was complaining about it before and they had a bright idea to remove the dislike bu
  23. [R90] 1/5 · CA Bring back the dislike button: One of the things other apps like this don’t offer is a dislike button and I find the button very appealing. I like having the choice to dislike it as well as it lets the algorithm know I don’t want that kind of content on my feed. Why on earth would we get rid of it? To be like Instagram? I use YouTube because it’s YouTube not because it’s like Instagram.
  24. [R26] 3/5 · GB Version no longer 5 star app: The latest app has made reordering a playlist near impossible unless you have the thinnest possible fingers. A good app spoiled!
  25. [R59] 1/5 · CA I don't like the new interface: The design of video listening is terrible
  26. [R94] 2/5 · CA Stop Changing The Ui: The Ui is perfectly fine and you decided to change it? This app is getting worse the more I use it
  27. [R115] 1/5 · AU So….Casting button is just gone?: The Casting button just vanished. I updated to the latest version, the latest IOS update, made sure both the iPad I’m using and the Casting device are on the same network, offloaded the app, completely uninstalled the app and reinstalled it……nothing. Casting works just fine with every other app I use, just YouTube seems to be affected. Any chance of that getting f
  28. [R34] 1/5 · GB 2FA is forced but broken: Google forces you to approve sign ins using the youtube app if 2FA is enabled. You don’t get to choose which type of 2FA to use, youtube is enabled by default and is the only option. But it doesn’t work! Notification appears but no prompt appears on the screen when I tap the notification, just the youtube feed. Thus I am unable to sign into my account from my secondary d
  29. [R19] 2/5 · GB Great content, violent ads: Amazing platform for creatives. I love watching on youtube to learn more about the world. However, the adverts youtube promotes are violent, inconsiderate and hateful. This isn’t just a few adverts, this is a repeated pattern of AI generated hate and violence promotion. I often report these and hear nothing back.
  30. [R24] 5/5 · GB Why: Rating five so people can see this this app is disgraceful their are videos of naked people absolutely disgusting appalling experience
  31. [R49] 1/5 · GB Fake adds: Sick of all the fake for stuff that’s not what it’s advertised to be
  32. [R5] 3/5 · GB Buggy: YouTube has been quite buggy lately because Google build their apps very poorly, with some glitches being mismatched audio and Shorts failing to load. If you would like the glitches, go ahead with this app. I wouldn’t recommend it for anti-glitch people.

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store