YouTube on Android: what Google Play reviewers complain about
We classified the 300 newest English-language Google Play reviews of YouTube (by Google LLC) in the US store, dated 22 October 2026 to 23 October 2026. Average rating in this sample: 3.19★. Its all-time Google Play rating is 3.8★ from 172.3M ratings. 112 reviews (37%) contained a complaint; the biggest theme was bugs (57% of complaining reviews).
Star ratings in this sample
| Stars | Reviews | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 5★ | 139 | 46% |
| 4★ | 13 | 4% |
| 3★ | 21 | 7% |
| 2★ | 20 | 7% |
| 1★ | 107 | 36% |
Complaint themes
| Theme | Reviews | Share of complaints | Avg severity (0–3) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bugs | 64 | 57% | 2.2 |
| UX / design | 43 | 38% | 2.0 |
| Ads | 35 | 31% | 2.1 |
| Feature requests | 32 | 29% | 2.1 |
| Pricing / subscription | 22 | 20% | 2.2 |
| Performance | 21 | 19% | 2.2 |
| Crashes / freezes | 11 | 10% | 2.4 |
A review can count in several themes, so shares add up to more than 100%.
Top issues, ranked by reviews × severity
- Soften the redesign backlash: 51 complaining reviews, avg severity 2.0/3. What to do: Explain the change in-app, restore the most-missed option, or offer a setting for the old behaviour.
“This new UI is horrible. If this sticks around, I'll be cancelling the family's Premium subscriptions. There's so much wrong with the redesign I can't even begin to put it here.” (1★, v21.42.243, 2026-10-23) - Reduce ad frequency and length: 32 complaining reviews, avg severity 2.1/3. What to do: Cap ads per session, avoid unskippable video, and never show ads in the middle of a core task.
“this is Pure AdTube not Youtube every 2 mins I'm getting 2mins advertisement, now a days soo many ads I'm seeing” (1★, v21.26.364, 2026-10-23) - Fix features broken by the latest update: 15 complaining reviews, avg severity 2.3/3. What to do: Add regression tests for the features users name in these reviews before the next release.
“Impossibly bad algorithm. Most recent update has just made this worse in that you can't even filter your home page anymore so it's just a random mass of videos. Searching never brings up anything relevant anymore, just whatever is trending rather than what you…” (1★, v21.41.529, 2026-10-23) - Improve content quality: 14 complaining reviews, avg severity 2.3/3. What to do: Review the content areas users name; add a "report a problem" button on content.
“PooTube never allows any content or videos unless it's Nazi enough for terrorist Nazi diarrhea CEO that owns PooTube!!!!!!!!!!!” (1★, v21.41.525, 2026-10-23) - Ship the most requested feature: 14 complaining reviews, avg severity 1.9/3. What to do: Read the quotes below for the exact request; consider a public roadmap.
“please when you click the video the pop up options used to vanish on its own in like 2 seconds, and now they stay there forever unless I click an X to close it manually, EVERY TIME. Pleaseeee change that back to how it was before, it's incredibly annoying and…” (1★, v21.42.243, 2026-10-22)
Google Play vs App Store
| Google Play (Android) | App Store (iOS) | |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews in sample | 300 | 300 |
| Dates | 2026-10-22 – 2026-10-23 | 2026-10-18 – 2026-10-22 |
| Avg stars in sample | 3.19★ | 2.92★ |
| Reviews with a complaint | 37% | 52% |
| Biggest complaint theme | Bugs | UX / design |
Both samples use the same AI classifier. The iOS sample comes from Apple's public review feed across several storefronts and can cover a longer period, so compare themes rather than exact percentages.
YouTube App Store complaints (iOS)
Rating by app version
| Version | Reviews | Avg stars | Share with a complaint |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21.42.243 | 123 | 2.6 | 55% |
Versions with fewer than 5 reviews in the sample are left out.
The same report for your Android app
Up to 600 recent Google Play reviews in up to 10 languages, classified into 7 themes and 18 specific issues, with severity, version trend, real quotes and 10 ranked fixes. PDF by email within 24–48 h.
Google Play report €19 €9 iOS + Android bundle €29 €15 Free check
Launch prices until 30 Nov 2026 or the first 20 orders (then €19 / €29 bundle).
Method and limits
Reviews were collected once from the public Google Play listing (newest first, US store, English) with the open-source google-play-scraper library, then each review was classified by an AI model into 7 themes and 18 specific issues with a severity of 0–3; individual labels can be wrong, so check the quotes. Big apps get hundreds of reviews a day, so this is a snapshot of a few days, not the app's full history. Generated 24 October 2026. Not affiliated with Google LLC or Google.
More Google Play complaint reports
- CapCut on Android (26% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- TikTok on Android (14% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- Facebook on Android (12% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- Samsung Health on Android (63% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- Telegram on Android (37% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- SHEIN on Android (13% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- Instagram on Android (20% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- WhatsApp on Android (16% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
All Google Play reports · All app complaint reports
FAQ
What do Android users complain about most in YouTube?
In the 300 newest US Google Play reviews (2026-10-22 to 2026-10-23), the most common complaint theme was bugs (57% of complaining reviews), and the top specific issue was “soften the redesign backlash” (51 reviews).
How many YouTube Google Play reviews are negative?
112 of 300 recent reviews (37%) contained a complaint. Average rating in this sample: 3.19★.
Do iPhone or Android users complain more about YouTube?
In our samples, 37% of recent Google Play reviews and 52% of recent App Store reviews contained a complaint. The samples cover different periods, so the gap is a signal, not a precise measurement.