“0/5! After the most recent update, the UI is far worse and the ads are extremely invasive, and if you were to let them play out fully, would be 80-90% of what you watch. If you are watching in fullscreen/landscape when the ad plays, a…”
Independent automated assessment · 6 signal sources · 3,629 reviews scanned · analyzed 2026-10-04.
3.8 ★172,122,741 ratings
10B+Downloads
12+Age rating
—App size
Free · In-app purchasesIn-app purchases
About this app
Get the official YouTube app on Android phones and tablets. See what the world is watching -- from the hottest music videos to what’s popular in gaming, fashion, beauty, news, learning and more. Subscribe to channels you love, create content of your own, share with friends, and watch on any device.
Watch and subscribe ● Browse personal recommendations on Home ● See the latest from your favorite channels in Subscriptions ● Look up videos you’ve watched, liked, and saved for later in Library
Explore different topics, what’s popular, and on the rise (available in select countries) ● Stay up to date on what’s popular in music, gaming, beauty, news, learning and more ● See what’s trending on YouTube and around the world on Explore ● Learn about the coolest Creators, Gamers, and Artists on the Rise (available in select countries)…
Preview
Real screenshots from the store listing.
Independent evidence report
The evidence behind this assessment
This is where the page changes from an app-store listing into an evidence report: findings, important reviews, pricing and a dated history.
Which version this describes
When we ran this analysis, and what the store lists now.
This analysis describes version 21.39.522 of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-04 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version VARY, updated 2026-10-03.
What we measured
Each line is a measurement published as a measurement, never a verdict.
Each line is a measurement, published as a measurement. Where we have not looked, the line says so rather than reading as a zero.
Developer replies to reviews
Replies to fewer than 1 review in 20
Price in the store description
States no price and billing period
Cancelling, in the store description
Does not say how to cancel
Themes reported by reviewers
1 theme reported
Counted from the reviews we have read for this app. "No theme reported" means no theme reached our reporting threshold — it is not a finding that nothing is wrong with this app, and we do not say it is.
Five-star share of ratings
Under 65% five-star
Arithmetic on the stores' own published rating counts. It says nothing about why the ratings fall where they do.
In the package we scanned
From the package we downloaded and read — version 21.39.522, scanned 2026-09-30.
Permissions Android classifies as dangerous
6 or more requested
Counted against the eighteen permissions listed in collect-package.ts. A dangerous permission is one Android asks the user to grant; requesting one is not itself a finding.
Analytics or tracking SDKs in the scanned package
1–2 found
Advertising SDKs in the scanned package
None found
Counted as distinct SDKs in the package we scanned. One mediation bundle can contribute several, so this is not a count of advertisers.
Graded bands · predicate set 1.4 · how these are measured
What the analysis found
App-specific findings, grouped by what each one rests on. How they are graded lives on its own page.
The catch list 1
Charges we publish at a strength we stand behind: measured from an artefact, agreed by independent sources, or reported by enough users to clear that charge's own published bar.
Reported by users: Aggressive ad load
Advertising volume or placement that interrupts normal use: ads between every action, unskippable or forced full-screen ads.
What we saw: Raised by 100 distinct reviewers — 2.8% of the 3,629 reviews scanned on this store leg (Google Play).
Context 1
Measured and published because a reader would want to know — deliberately not a charge. The measurement alone does not show a harm.
Asks for more sensitive permissions than similar apps
The package requests substantially more of the device's sensitive permissions than the typical app in its category. This is a measurement, not an accusation: a permission is granted because a feature needs it, and a wide request list is a reason to look rather than a finding on its own.
What we saw: Requests 8 sensitive permissions (ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION, ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION, CAMERA, READ_CONTACTS, READ_MEDIA_IMAGES, READ_PHONE_STATE, RECORD_AUDIO, SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW); the median for 83 scanned apps in Video Players & Editors is 3
Positive evidence 1
Things this app does right, published at the same strengths as the catch list.
Developer says data deletion can be requested
The developer's data-safety disclosure on the store states that users can request deletion of their data, or the app's own text offers a way to delete the account. This restates what the developer declares; it is not a test of whether deletion works. Apple publishes no equivalent disclosure, so on an Apple-only listing only the app's own text can support it.
What we saw: The developer's store data-safety disclosure states that data deletion can be requested; we have not seen a deletion control in the app's own text
Highlighted reviews
Representative public review excerpts shown as user reports, not Appworthy audit evidence.
“Too many complaints to count at this point! 1) 35 ads in a 1 hour video; of course the option to skip takes forever to come up. My last straw, in the Youtube Kids, there were ads for mens stamina pills and women's Adam and Eve lubricant…”
“why are there so many ads and they are always to ads every few minutes...im getting like 10 ads in a single video 🤦♂️ its like the more people complain the more ads we get.....at some pountit feels like the ads in a single video are…”
Assessment & version history
App changes and Appworthy events in one timeline.
Store listing updated to version VARY.
What this app sells
Useful store-disclosed pricing, kept below the app listing.
Items shown0
Lowest—
Highest—
Google Play does not publish per-purchase prices.