Not even speaking about all the ads in the default YouTube app without a subscription.
The app is basically useless in my opinion. It defaults to freaking 240p for every video. My phone is definitively not the problem, also not the Internet connection. Watching in Firefox on the same connection gives me normal expected quality.
This was better on some "feature phones" without touchscreen!!! YouTube app works and playback is in 720p / 1080p
You default to 240 because your internet sucks or you need to change the default setting. I get 720 all the time and could go higher if I wanted. I never see 240.
I've been using YouTube Vanced for years, and now , after Vanced got killed. it's a bit tedious to set up on non rooted phones, but even then, it's such a huge upgrade. no ads, let you pick your own quality, SponsorBlock built in, background play, lots of payout control options.
Yeah, I switched to Invidious a long time ago. If you want an app, I'd also recommend NewPipe (for Android), and either Yattee (for iOS) or Piped (as a PWA).
YouTube sucks, period. The best innovation they had recently was copying a Chinese company douyin and making shorts while for years they were pushing long form videos to creators and punishing short form videos 💀 dead brains in YouTube executives
I've given up YouTube almost entirely for PeerTube at this point. If I wasn't to watch a video, I use the *built in grabber and it grabs the video. Then, I can always refer back to PT instead of YT.
Go with Invidious. inv.tux.pizza works for me when I'm on a browser. (I swear I'm not affiliated with them 😅.) On my desktop and laptop, I use FreeTube because it allows me to track my watch history and subscriptions locally, and it has Sponsorblock and DeArrow optionally integrated. Plus, it's just nice to separate YouTube, which I often watch like TV, from active browsing tasks. On mobile I typically just use Invidious in Firefox.