This post highlights potential solutions to a problem on the iOS YouTube app that’s unable to play videos on the new 3rd generation special edition iPhone. Read on to learn what to do if YouTube videos won’t play on iPhone SE 3 2022.
Why won’t videos play on YouTube?
Playing YouTube videos on an iPhone is fairly simple. All it takes is a few taps on the screen and enjoy streaming interesting content from your favorite channels. However, things aren’t always working the same as random problems are likewise bound to happen. And you would just realize that something went wrong because YouTube videos are suddenly not playing.
There are many different reasons as to why you won’t be able to play YouTube videos on your iPhone.
First and most common reason is a problematic internet connection like when the iPhone’s Wi-Fi or cellular connection keeps dropping or is very slow. The same thing when the iPhone has no internet connection at all.
Aside from the internet, other software-related factors such as settings conflicts, in-app glitches, data corruption, software bugs and malware are also among the underlying causes.
Server-related issues like when the YouTube server is suddenly experiencing technical difficulties resulting in service outages. In cases like this, the problem is widespread and end-users couldn’t do anything about it but to wait until the outage is over and the affected services are back up and running again.
In some cases, the problem may be isolated to a specific YouTube channel as the rest of YouTube videos from other channels are working as intended. It’s possible that the video you’re trying to access isn’t available in your region or your IP address isn’t included in the list of those that have access to that channel’s content.
Memory-related issues like when the iPhone storage is running low can also be the main reason as to why the device fails to load up media files including YouTube videos. Should this be the case, freeing up storage space by deleting old and unwanted contents is recommended.
To rule out these common culprits, performing the basic tweaks including the outlined solutions below is recommended.
Troubleshooting YouTube Videos won’t play on iPhone SE 3 2022
The following are basic workarounds that have been proven to work wonders when dealing with random problems with the YouTube app for iOS.
Before you begin troubleshooting, verify and ensure that your iPhone has a stable internet connection, preferably via Wi-Fi network. If you’re connected to the internet via cellular data, make sure that you have sufficient data credits and your iPhone is getting fast and stable cellular reception.
Don’t forget to replay the problematic YouTube video after performing each of the given solutions to determine whether or not the problem is gone. Proceed to the next applicable solution if needed.
Solution #1: End YouTube and other background apps.
If everything was working perfectly fine and then suddenly YouTube doesn’t play videos, it’s possible that the app is glitching and stops working properly. Should this be a minor glitch, ending and restarting the app will likely fix it.
So here’s what you should do first:
- Open the Multitasking view/Apps switcher by swiping up from the bottom-left edge of the Home screen on your iPhone. Locate the YouTube app card and then swipe it up to close.
- Do the same to clear out/terminate any other running apps on your iPhone.
After terminating all background apps, relaunch the YouTube app and see if it’s already able to play the video.
Solution #2: Reboot the iPhone.
If the first method doesn’t yield a positive outcome, try restarting the phone. This should help clear out random system errors that might have caused conflicts with the YouTube app and thereby result in the app’s failure to play videos.
If your iPhone is still able to respond properly, you can do the normal iPhone reboot or soft reset with these steps:
- Press and hold the Side button on the top-right edge and then release when the Power off slider appears.
- Drag the Power Off slider to the right. Doing so powers off the device.
- After a few seconds, press and hold the Side button until the Apple logo appears.
If your iPhone seems to freeze or become unresponsive as when the YouTube error occurs while attempting to play a video, performing a force restart would be necessary.
Here’s how it’s done on the iPhone SE 3:
- Press and quickly release the Volume Up button then press and quickly release the Volume Down button.
- Finally, press and hold the Side button until the Apple logo appears.
Restarting does not delete any user data from the iPhone storage so all your downloaded apps and files remain intact.
Solution #3: Refresh the internet connection.
As earlier mentioned, random internet connection problems such as slow internet browsing, intermittent or unstable connection or no internet connection at all could be the main reason as to why YouTube videos aren’t playing on your iPhone. For this reason, refreshing the iPhone’s internet connection is recommended.
- If you’re on Wi-Fi, go to Settings-> Wi-Fi menu then tap to turn the Wi-Fi switch off for a few seconds and then tap to turn it on again.
- If you’re on Cellular data, go to Settings-> Cellular Data menu and toggle the Cellular data switch off and on again.
To simultaneously restart and refresh your iPhone’s wireless connections, you can perform the Airplane mode tweak.
- To do so, go to Settings-> Airplane mode menu then toggle to enable Airplane mode. This will disable all wireless connections including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Cellular Data network. Restart the iPhone while Airplane mode is enabled. After restarting, head back to the Airplane mode settings then tap to turn the Airplane mode switch again.
Performing this trick effectively clears out minor glitches affecting wireless networks and services on your iOS device.
If your internet connection is slow, setting the video to a lower resolution like 360p might help.
- To do so, open the video that you’re having trouble playing on YouTube. While the video is open, tap on the triple dots then tap Quality and select Advanced. On the succeeding menu, select a lower video quality.
After altering the video quality, retry playing it and see if it works. If it still doesn’t play, then the problem is not with the video quality but something else.
Solution #4: Install YouTube updates (if available).
One way to keep your apps bug-free and optimal is to keep them updated. App updates pushed by app developers usually contain critical patches that are designed to get rid of any transpiring in-app bugs that make the app unstable.
If you haven’t enabled auto-updates for your apps, it’s possible that some critical updates for the YouTube app aren’t implemented.
In this case, manually installing pending updates for YouTube is recommended.
- To manually update apps on the iPhone SE 3, just open the App Store app then tap on your profile icon. On the next screen, scroll to view pending updates and release notes.
- If a new update is available for the YouTube app, it will show up on the updates screen. If there is, simply tap the Update button next to YouTube to update the app. If multiple app updates are available, tap Update All to download and install all app updates at once.
Aside from app updates, installing the latest iOS update for your iPhone may likewise be able to fix the problem if system bugs and malware are to blame.
Apple pushes software updates not only to add new features but more importantly to keep the device performing stable.
- To manually check for new iOS updates, go to Settings-> General-> Software Update menu on your iPhone SE 3.
Your phone must have a stable internet connection, ample storage and sufficient battery life to make sure new software updates are completely installed and implemented in the system.
Solution #5: Manually off YouTube app (clear YouTube app cache).
In-app glitches transpiring in YouTube may also be the root cause of the problem. Like many other apps, YouTube also stores temporary files and residual data in its dedicated cache directory. If any of these files get corrupted or the cache directory is already piled up, there’s a good chance that the app will become unstable.
Thus, clearing the app’s cache and data will likely fix the problem. But unlike Android, iOS devices don’t have an option to Clear Cache and Data from an individual app’s info screen. To clear cache and data from the iOS YouTube app, you will need to manually offload the app.
And here’s how it’s done on the iPhone SE 3:
- Go to Settings-> General-> iPhone storage menu and then select YouTube from the list of apps. While in the YouTube app info screen, tap Offload App and then tap Offload App on the succeeding pop-up window to confirm.
Offloading deletes the app without deleting its data and relevant documents. This means you’d still be able to use them when you redownload YouTube from the App Store.
After offloading YouTube, restart/soft reset the iPhone to clear out system cache. As soon as it’s done rebooting and the internet connection is re-established, go to the Home screen and then tap on the Offloaded YouTube app icon to reinstall it.
Solution #6: Disable content restrictions.
Another possible reason as to why you’re unable to play YouTube videos is because the content you’re trying to play is restricted. This is usually the case if the Content and privacy restrictions option is enabled on the iPhone.
To clear this out, adjust your iPhone’s Screen Time settings and disable content restrictions temporarily with these steps:
- Open the Settings app.
- Find and then tap Screen Time.
- While in the Screen Time menu, tap Content & Privacy Restrictions.
- If prompted, enter your Screen Time passcode to proceed.
- Then, tap to turn off the switch next to Content & Privacy Restrictions.
All restrictions that are in place on your iPhone and any secondary device will be disabled. By then, access to everything the device is capable of is granted.
Retry playing YouTube videos while content restrictions are disabled on the iPhone and see if that solves the problem. If it doesn’t, re-enable restrictions then try other applicable solutions.
Solution #7: Uninstall then reinstall YouTube app.
If this happens to be a widespread issue on YouTube like when you couldn’t get to play any video from any YouTube channel because the app keeps stopping or crashing, chances are that the app gets corrupted. In this case, reinstalling the YouTube app on your iPhone would be necessary.
To uninstall and reinstall YouTube app on the iPhone SE 3, just follow these steps:
- From your iPhone’s Home screen find and then long-press (touch and hold) the YouTube app icon. Doing so will open the quick menu options for the app.
- On the quick menu, tap Remove app and follow the rest of the onscreen instructions to uninstall the YouTube app from your iPhone.
- After uninstalling/deleting the app, reboot the phone and then launch the App Store app.
- While on the App Store, tap on your Apple ID profile and then select Purchased.
- Locate YouTube and then tap the Get button or Cloud icon to redownload and install the app on the device.
Wait for the app to finish installing and then retry playing videos afterwards.
Solution #8: Reset all settings on iPhone.
Resorting to iOS resets can be considered among the last options if all else fails to fix the problem. The applicable reset to deal with this problem is the option to reset all settings.
Resetting all settings on the iPhone deletes all your custom settings including saved Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth connections, custom apps settings, app preferences and other relevant settings on the phone.
But unlike a factory reset, resetting all settings does not affect any user data so all your files and downloaded apps remain as is.
- To reset all settings on the iPhone SE 3, just head over to Settings-> General-> Transfer or Reset iPhone-> Reset and then tap Reset all settings on the succeeding menu. Read the reset details on the next screen and then tap Reset settings to confirm.
After the reset, the phone reboots on its own and then loads up all the default values and options. To get back online and use online apps and services including YouTube, you will need to reconnect the iPhone to the internet either through Wi-Fi or cellular data network.
Still Unable to Play YouTube Videos?
Normally, performing the above solutions is already enough to rule out common software-related culprits that hindered YouTube from playing videos as intended. If it doesn’t, then you may go ahead and try these additional tweaks.
If the erratic video happens to be marked among other Favorites, removing it from the Favorites folder might be able to solve the problem.
- To do this, double-tap on the errant video file and then tap on the Favorite icon to access the folder. Locate the errant video and then tap Delete.
After deleting the video from the Favorites folder, reload it and say if it’s already able to play.
Another tweak is to disable the Video option from the iCloud settings. Importing the problematic video into iMovie is also a potential solution. After importing the video, try to play it in iMovie to see if it works.
- To determine whether or not the problem is due to a corrupted video file you’ve downloaded from YouTube, try to create a copy of the problematic video then paste it into a different location. Play the copied video file on the new location and see if it works.
You can convert it into a MOV, MP4, M4V, or AVI file format using any of the available video file converters that are compatible with your iOS device. Many video File converters for iOS are available for free downloads through the App Store.
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