YouTube has strange error

The image quality issues have left many users feeling like YouTube is returning to the early digital era of the 2000s. Photo: TechSpot .

In recent days, a number of users have reported that the quality of YouTube videos is no longer what it used to be. Many videos, especially YouTube Shorts, are being displayed as blurry, grainy images. The company has acknowledged the issue and is working on a fix, but has yet to determine the exact cause of the problem.

The video quality issues have left many users feeling like YouTube is back in the digital nascent days of the 2000s, according to TechSpot . Even with strong internet connections, they are still forced to watch videos in low quality, with some struggling to get to 360p resolution, or even worse, 144p.

Those who try to increase the video quality to 1080p can sometimes see a change. But many people also experience unrelenting slowness in video loading. Some users say YouTube is barely able to play videos in high quality no matter what they do.

On Reddit, a user named FaisalFawzy asked: "What's going on with YouTube video quality?". He said that every time he opened a video or YouTube Shorts, the video always started at an extremely poor resolution, only 144p, and the image was so badly pixelated that individual pixels could be clearly seen.

While he could manually adjust the resolution to a higher level, he still felt this was an unusual bug that he had never encountered before. However, after editing the post on March 23, he confirmed that the issue appeared to have been fixed by YouTube.

Another user, Strawberriowww, shared a similar experience. “Am I the only one having quality issues?” he asked. He said that after the app automatically updated about an hour ago, all the videos and Shorts he watched were downgraded to 144p or 240p.

Even when manually setting the video to 1080p, it automatically reverts back to low resolution after a minute. The user said his device and connection were perfectly capable of handling high-quality video, but YouTube forced it to display low quality.

What’s more worrying is that the issue isn’t specific to any one platform. Users on Windows, iOS, iPadOS, and even Smart TVs have reported video quality issues. However, oddly enough, YouTube appears to be working just fine on Android devices.

Even Google doesn’t really know what’s going on with YouTube. On March 19, the company confirmed the issue, admitting that some users were experiencing lower video resolutions than usual. But it didn’t provide any further details beyond what users had reported. Google said it was working on a fix, but didn’t give a specific timeline for when the platform would be back up and running again.

While Google is still figuring out a solution, video addicts can consider some alternatives. As mentioned, YouTube still works fine on Android devices, so if you have a smartphone or tablet running Google’s operating system, you can continue watching videos without any problems.

While not as good as YouTube, other video platforms like Vimeo and Dailymotion can also provide similar content. If you’re in a pinch, Facebook is also an option, although that may not be something you’re really excited about. Twitch is also a good option, especially for those who love gaming content.

The video quality issue is just the latest in a series of frustrations YouTube users have faced recently. The platform has recently cracked down on ad blockers, forcing users to watch more ads. It has also raised the price of its Premium plan, while offering a cheaper, "mostly" ad-free option.

It seems like Google is slowly recreating the strategy of cable providers in the 1970s and 1980s, initially attracting users with ad-free content, then gradually cramming ads into the paid service.