YouTube 4K Videos Won’t Be Free?
As per a post on Reddit (check out more links: 1, 2) and Twitter, YouTube is now attaching the “Premium” tag to the 2160p option, thus, requiring people to pay if they want to watch 4K videos. This option is appearing for a few people, although, I couldn’t spot it. So, after testing up to 12 ads on YouTube for non-Premium users, now some users reported that they also have to get a Premium account just to watch videos in 4K. pic.twitter.com/jJodoAxeDp— Alvin (@sondesix) October 1, 2022
Hence, it remains unknown whether or not this is a test for a small group of people. We also don’t know where this change is going live. YouTube hasn’t provided any official word on this.
While the move to charge people for 4K videos will help YouTube garner more revenue and get more Premium users, from a user point of view, this might not be well-received. But again, most apps have started putting some of their feature behind a paywall in the name of subscriptions. Twitter Blue, Snapchat+, and more are a few examples. So, this doesn’t appear surprising. For those who don’t know, YouTube Premium costs Rs 129 a month for an individual user and Rs 189 a month for the family plan.
To recall, YouTube recently got criticism for showing 5 unskippable ads before a video plays for free users. Post the scrutiny, YouTube confirmed that this is a test and is currently for a few people. It remains to be seen if this feature becomes official.
Since YouTube is yet to reveal more on this, it’s best to wait and see what it eventually plans to do. We will let you know, so, stay tuned. Also, do let us know if you are also seeing the same option on YouTube in the comments below.
