I gave Premium a shot. Then the one time I wanted to use the feature Google said I was paying for - being able to download videos - I found out that it was just a glorified pre-buffer.

Can't view the video outside the youtube app or the website, source video file encrypted ✅️
Can't view the video if you havent connected to the internet in 3 days ✅️
Does less than your average youtube downloader that you can find for free with one search ✅️
Literally just saving Youtube bandwidth because they destroyed every benefit you would get if it was actually reasonable ✅️

Enshittification isnt just limited to free users folks. Slammed that cancellation button right then and there. Good luck earning back my trust, I'm happy to pay if you didnt scream so loudly that even if I paid, you were going to treat me like shit anyways.

[–] khaleer@sopuli.xyz 35 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Make sure that google can't kill you without consequences after you bought one month of their subscription.

[–] BeardedGingerWonder@feddit.uk 23 points 3 months ago

Ah yes, the Disney model

[–] Tja@programming.dev 7 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I pay for it and I like the perks. You are giving YouTube money, but also the creator of the video. And synchronizes the view with your account. And takes it into account for the dreaded "algorithm" (which I also find useful, plenty of cool channels discovered thanks to it).

What did you expect, exactly?

[–] SkyezOpen@lemmy.world 29 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Ever go to a video website, click a download button under a video, and NOT have that video in your downloads folder? Literally that. That's what i expect from a download button.

[–] Tja@programming.dev -5 points 3 months ago (2 children)

On android the download folder is a mess. I honestly prefer to have the videos in the app. I used newpipe before and it was a bit less convenient (although more flexible).

Never used it on a computer, tho, that would make sense there.

[–] ClamDrinker@lemmy.world 11 points 3 months ago

I get that. It would be totally fine if it just gave the option. But yes the issue is more egregious on PC.

[–] Steak@lemmy.ca 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I only use YouTube on PC. I'm kinda old school now though. My phone is pretty much just a phone now. Only app I use is lemmy other than maps and normal stuff. No social media on my phone.

[–] Tja@programming.dev 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Isn't lemmy social media? Mora than YouTube IMHO.

[–] Steak@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 months ago

I consider lemmy in different realm of social media. The people here are not at all like the people I meet irl where I live. If I ever met someone from my small town who even knew what lemmy was id shit myself.

[–] ClamDrinker@lemmy.world 9 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

I like those perks too, but if I pay more to be able to download videos (which again, I could've used a free tool for) I want to be able to do whatever I want with it. Download means getting a file I can watch using my own video player and store for later even if Youtube dies tomorrow, If I go on holiday without internet, or if my internet goes down for a week. Anything.

If Google is going to be "Uhm aksually, you are technically downloading it, thats why we can advertise it like that", then I'm already downloading literally every video I watch. And thats not the kind of bullshit you give to a paying customer. That is spitting in my face for paying you. Why does a non-Premium user get better service with free third party youtube downloaders?

It's a matter of principle.

[–] Tja@programming.dev 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I see your point. For videos I want to hoard forever I also use yt-dlp, but for watching colbert on a plane, the app does just fine.

[–] ClamDrinker@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

Yeah, I thought it was a nice compromise. It seemed sensible that if Premium is the 'compliant' response to not wanting ads, the 'compliant' response to using third party tools to download videos was to just be able to do things more easily and with more options through Premium as well. But apparently they wanted to advertise something anyone who's wanted to download a youtube video would not describe as 'downloading', which is easily out competed by free (but at times shady) tools.

[–] MonkeMischief@lemmy.today 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Wow thanks for the heads up on that! I kept getting tempted by that "Download" button thinking "No...it can't be that easy."

It's kinda amazing how much content uses existing content...so they quietly can't ruin downloading without tanking a lot of traffic.

[–] ClamDrinker@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

Exactly, thinking that is what I was getting pulled me over the edge, I sometimes remember a music video I want to listen to on my phone during my commute and I don't want to spend 30 minutes either getting on my PC to download it with a tool, or using a third party downloader which can at times be shady. So upgrading that to a single click in the app seemed like a great deal. Crushingly disappointed when I found out how it actually was. Turns out the real answer was NewPipe, which I don't even have to pay for.