Youtube Rant from a paying customer

I used to use NewPipe back in the days of yore. Then I got Youtube Premium since it bundled in Youtube Music as well which I used. But the former's app on mobile is a shit show. Even after paying, you are asked to tip random creators, purchase merchandise[ which are shown as actual ads below videos] and join channels to access exclusive videos for more money. Basically pay money once, and then pay more money for more content.

Okay, one could argue atleast the above goes to a channel's creators and helps them. How would one say then that the Youtube app still doesn't have a systemwide option to choose video quality for all videos. New Pipe had that option long ago, but Youtube thinks it's user base are immature who need to be coddled with only two options like "High" and "Data Saver".

Despite having a Premium thing, I finally crossed over to a Newpipe fork Tubular [available on F Droid] today simply because the paying experience on Youtube Mobile is so bad. I can't fathom how bad it would be for free customers using the official app.

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Also the problem of the algorithm that thinks it knows what you like to see instead of showing your subscriptions
"Six months ago you did a single search of a walkthrough for a Mario 64 level, so here is a feed filled with only Mario 64 speedruns"
I'm always wary of clicking a YouTube link scared it would poison the feed.
Newpipe solved this
- Why not browse your subscriptions through subscriptions section? I understand that it's annoying that you can't make it default on startup in the app but it's there.
  
  From the app drawer in android you can long press YouTube to get this drop down:
  Then hold and drag subscriptions to your home screen.
  
  I always hear about people saying "my subscriptions aren't showing up" and I don't get it. They're right there, sorted in reverse chronological order. I've literally never experienced this problem.
- While this feed issue is manageable if you Pause Your Watch History and Clear Your Watch History before doing so; it does disable a lot of suggestions.
  Unfortunately Google and YouTube do not make these options easy to find and they are quick to nag you about turning them back on; and You Must Refuse This and ignore the errors and whines at every prompt for a while before they leave you alone.
  So by it's very nature NewPipe completely defuses this garbage by simply being a much saner front-end than using the "Native" YouTube apps ever were.
  You know I think YouTube might start learning their lesson if more and more people began refusing to use their scummy front-end more than strictly necessary. Unfortunately they're going to go through the usual stages of grief while doing so and they absolutely are currently trying to attack apps like GrayJay and NewPipe with spurious lawsuits.
  So instead; maybe those of you who "Pay" for YouTube Premium should simply cancel your service and start donating that amount to projects like NewPipe, when that is possible. (Yes I know Team NewPipe will not accept donations for legal reasons, but similar projects do exist, like FreeTube or Invidious, that can and do accept donations to cover costs for server hosted things in their developments.)
  
  I wouldn't be renewing my subscription once it expires. I mainly used YouTube Music from it but Google still hasn't managed feature parity with either Spotify or with it's previous incarnation Google Play Music either. I mean, they shoved the cast button that few people use replacing the next button used to skip to other track.
  Play Music had a much cleaner interface on both desktop and mobile.
- My bookmark goes directly to the subscription page. I never see the home page algorithm
- The algorithm issue is why I allways curate my youtube watch history, if I don't, my recommendations would quickly be messed up after watching videos outside of my normal interests.
  
  Ever thought about firing the algorithm and only watching updates from your subs?
  50 people uploading weekly at ~10 minutes per video is 8 hours' watch time per week. Compare with your actual time spent watching YT...
- Yes, the feed can be janky for some though I liked the new video recommendations it sometimes gave. It reminded me of another gripe on their mobile app. When you go to the Subscriptions page, it shows polls, comments and videos all in a bunch instead of just the latter by default. This behaviour can be toggled off but seems to revert back every few days in my case.
  Either way, subscriptions page should be for videos only, not other forms of data.

YouTube is unwatchable for me without sponsorblock so I've liked the newpipe forks that include. And on desktop I love freetube because it goes further and lets me block channels.
- Yes, I installed Sponserblock too on Desktop. Also, had to disable Shorts via uBlock Filters.
  
  Please tell me what you added to configure this.

I pay also, and use revanced. I watch YouTube more than any other service, and want to support some of the creators I like.
I would feel a lot less self hatred for paying google if they released a YouTube 'Lite' app that dropped everything related to shorts. Paying users should be able to use the app however they want, without having extra features rammed down their throats.
- My god I wish there was an option to just not show shorts. Why that’s so difficult is beyond me.
  
  Because it's the new trend to be like tiktok.
  I enjoy the ones I get recommended. Usually from channels I am already subscribed to anyway.
  Very rarely get a random one (I don't (doom) scroll the feed) and YT seemded to get, that I am not someone to click on it.

- YouTube Premium costs as much for just two months as Nebula does for an entire year (if you sign up through a creator's code—US prices. Australian prices it's about 2.6 months) Highly recommend, probably the best bang for your buck option.
  Dropout is quite a bit more expensive than Nebula, and narrower in range of content (basically comedy panel shows, sketch comedy, and D&D), but it's still only 5.4 months' worth of YouTube Premium in cost (for your second & subsequent year—4.3 months for the first year discount), and you're directly supporting the creators. Still a very good deal.
  If you've got both of those, that's 8 months of YouTube Premium's cost, leaving 4 months worth that can be spent directly on individual creators' Patreons, Kofis, one-off donations, or on their merch.
  
  How much exclusive content is there on Nebula? I was always under the assumption that it's pricing would be higher than YouTube's. If they have done localized pricing, maybe that might be better than giving stuff to Google once my YouTube subscription expires.
  Also, off topic, but some companies just convert dollar values to local currencies. I think a year of Reddit Premium in my country is as expensive as YouTube, Google Play Pass and Netflix COMBINED.
  
  I actually checked Nebula and it's the opposite of cheap in my country. It is THRICE as expensive as YouTube Premium on a yearly basis. I mean, even Netflix is cheaper than Nebula here, it's so expensive.
  I don't think they have done localized pricing and have just converted dollar values to local currency. I doubt they even care if anyone signs up from India for their service.

I don't even like the widespread use of the word "creator".

I pay for premium as well and just use Firefox for YouTube. I get tabs and a better layout
- Wasn't it limited to 720p?
  
  I don't actually know, my internet can't run 720p anyway so I never tried to do that or above.

Am somewhat late to the (third) party, why are most people here using a newpipe fork? Is the original compromised somehow?
- No Tubular is just NewPipe with Sponsorblock. The original devs didn't want to add that, so a fork was created to add it.
  
  Got it, just switched over myself because I liked the differences in the description. Thanks for letting me know!

The video quality problem really winds me up. Not gonna canc though because I bought through Turkey and it costs less than a dollar a month.

Then I got Youtube Premium since it bundled in Youtube Music as well which I used. But the former's app on mobile is a shit show. Even after paying, you are asked to tip random creators, purchase merchandise[ which are shown as actual ads below videos] and join channels to access exclusive videos for more money. Basically pay money once, and then pay more money for more content.
You talking about YouTube Premium? I literally never see ads in videos and am never asked to tip creators.I listen to hours and hours of music absolutely ad free. Is this a regional thing? What country are you in?
- https://i.ibb.co/Y3YdvMN/Screenshot-20240512-132547.jpg
  There is clearly merchandising on some videos which constitutes an advertisement in my opinion. Also, a useless Thanks button that only exists(on certain videos I think) to tip large creators more money. Sure, I can ignore it, but why not give the user the option to completely disable it from settings?
  I opened the same video in NewPipe and both of these atrocities weren't there.
  
  Pay to go see a concert. Band has merchandise on sale. Oh shit.... What do you do? First answer wins.

I might be mistaken but, I think cellular carriers force 480p. I always use a VPN and PipePipe, LibreTube, or Clipious so, I don't know for sure. Lol And, I do look for PeerTube content sometimes.
Yeah, I don't think any of the "creator" advert things you mentioned have much to do with the big G. I'd guess that 70% of that goes to the channel. Hopefully that much or even more.
Either way, as someone who makes music and goes to local shows, I generally avoid YT and other big platforms. I encourage other bands to upload to PT and FunkWhale. They may as well upload torrents with how much artists get paid from streaming, and use whatever third party tipping platforms.

Are you using the YouTube Music app, or the YouTube app and loading the music section? I've never seen anything you're describing.

Happy customer personally, never had these complaints.

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