What I discovered once I canceled YouTube Premium

I have been a subscriber to YouTube Premium since 2017, and through that point I did not fairly respect how good I had it. That’s, till just lately, once I went with out YouTube Premium for a month. Readers, it was horrible.

For many who do not know, YouTube Premium is a subscription service from YouTube that primarily does two issues: Give subscribers an ad-free YouTube expertise, in addition to the power to hearken to YouTube audio within the background or use picture-in-picture on any cell system. The subscription additionally offers subscribers entry to YouTube Music ad-free, and permits downloading movies for offline viewing.

These options could not sound like a lot, particularly for a subscription that prices $14 per month for a person, or $23 for a household of 5. The truth is, in an effort to chop down on my month-to-month payments, YouTube Premium was among the many first providers I reduce.

It took coping with YouTube sans the Premium advantages that really made me perceive simply how priceless these options had been to me.

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I can by no means return to watching YouTube with advertisements once more.

1 Advert-free dwelling

The largest advantage of all

The marquee function of YouTube Premium is, undoubtedly, its removing of advertisements completely from the YouTube expertise. That is the principle promoting level for the service, and it is an enormous deal. For all these years I used to be subscribed to Premium, I didn’t encounter advertisements, and I had merely gotten used to movies beginning instantly once I hit play, and with out advert breaks interrupting longer movies. After canceling my subscription, unexpectedly I used to be uncovered to life with advertisements once more, and it was terrible.

It bought to some extent, after just some days, the place I used to be questioning how anyone may put up with all of the advertisements, with as many as two or three taking part in earlier than a video barely longer than the advertisements themselves. Most individuals, I spotted, had been merely used to coping with YouTube that method. In the meantime, I used to be so accustomed to life with out advertisements, that seeing them once more this manner was past grating.

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YouTube Premium’s most-loved function is its ad-free movies, however there’s one other function I discover myself utilizing lots.

2 Background audio

The function for multitaskers

Generally, once I’m watching a YouTube video on my cellphone, I will discover one thing I wish to lookup shortly on Google or Wikipedia, or I will wish to shortly examine my Bluesky feed. That was no drawback in any respect once I had YouTube Premium. If I went away from the YouTube app, the audio from the video I used to be watching would maintain taking part in.

This was particularly nice for longer movies and podcasts hosted on YouTube. Simply as with all audio-centric app, I may simply multitask on my cellphone whereas persevering with to pay attention. I may even change my settings to routinely kick movies into picture-in-picture mode whereas doing different issues on my cellphone, excellent for movies the place the visible part continues to be vital.

As soon as once more, dwelling with this function for thus lengthy, I began taking it as a right. However once I canceled my Premium subscription, I found simply how annoying it’s for the audio to cease taking part in every time I go away the app, even only for a second to answer to a message or examine my emails. It took just some days of coping with this annoyance earlier than deciding I would wish to re-subscribe as quickly as potential.

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3 Offline movies

Making the commute simpler

I will admit, saving movies for offline viewing was by no means one of many options I made heavy use of, however like the larger options of YouTube Premium, dwelling with out it bought me to cease taking it as a right.

Whereas I’ll not have used the function always, I did use it considerably repeatedly to obtain longer movies to be able to proceed viewing them on the subway, which has spotty mobile connection at finest. It took only one commute, the place I spotted I could not watch a video as a result of I had no sign, that I knew I wanted YouTube Premium again.

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