Youtube videos won’t play on Apple iPhone XR. Here’s how to fix it…

You’re trying to view an interesting video clip but for some reason Youtube videos won’t play on your device. It’s the kind of problem you really want to fix immediately. It could be an isolated problem in YouTube or a software error on the phone. Read on to learn how to troubleshoot a similar issue on your iPhone XR.

YouTube is one of the most popular video-sharing websites of modern ages. This tool enables audience to watch, share, and upload videos from computers and mobile devices that are connected to the Internet. To view YouTube videos on your mobile phone, installing the YouTube app is needed. Through that app, you will have direct access to and play your preferred videos from different channels.

The usual process of playing YouTube videos through your iPhone’s YouTube app is fairly simple and easy that even kids won’t find any trouble doing. Nonetheless, there are still some instances that could hinder the viewing process and you will just realize that you’re dealing with this problem as you can’t play YouTube videos on your phone. If this happens, then you will have to find ways to get things back to normal.

Why Youtube videos won’t play on your iPhone XR?

The occurrence of these problems is often associated with server issues. In most cases, the problem is isolated to a certain YouTube channel or video URL. Other factors that are deemed among the possible causes are YouTube app glitches, corrupted video files, invalid or unsupported file formats, malwares, network connectivity issues. On the iPhone, some videos won’t be able to play due to some restrictions. This is usually the case if you’ve set your iPhone XR to restrict certain (explicit) contents. Faulty updates are also among other possible impediments.

Before troubleshooting, check and make sure that your Internet connection is working and stable. YouTube videos won’t be able to play without an Internet connection. The same thing can happen if your iPhone is experiencing Wi-Fi drops or intermittent connection. The easiest way to rule this out is to try using YouTube or other online services on your other devices using the same network with that of your iPhone XR. If YouTube videos are also not playing on your other devices, then that could be a problem with your Internet connection. In that case, restarting the modem or router can help. Also try to access the YouTube website from a browser to ensure that the site server is up.

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Troubleshooting iPhone XR with Youtube videos won’t play issue

To resolve the issue, you will need to consider looking into each of the underlying causes. Unless you have identified the main culprit, your only way to resolving the issue is to try individual solutions. And here are your options:

First solution: Reboot your iPhone XR.

The simplest method you should try first when dealing with app problems like this is to reboot the phone. Doing so will remove cached files, particularly corrupted YouTube data that might have halted the app from working as intended. Minor software errors on the devices are likewise cleared out in the process. Here’s how it’s done:

  1. Press and hold Sleep/Wake Button (power button) until a slider pops up on your screen.
  2. Swipe the “Slide to Power Off” from left to right.
  3. Leave it off for at least 30 seconds, then press the Wake button (power button) to turn it on.

Once your iPhone is already back on, launch the app to check if Youtube videos won’t play still and if the problem remained, then move on to the next procedure.

Second solution: Restart the YouTube app.

The problem could be on the YouTube application itself. Usually in this case, restarting the flawed app is necessary.

  1. Swipe up from the bottom of the Home screen and then pause slightly in the middle of the screen.
  2. Then swipe right or left to navigate through the app previews.
  3. Swipe up on the YouTube app card/preview to close it.

If this doesn’t give you luck, then you may proceed to the next procedure.

Third solution: Check for available YouTube app updates.

Always make it a habit to check for new updates to the apps you have downloaded and installed on your device. Developers often update their apps to enhance functionality and to offer new features. Some updates are also released as dedicated fix patches for existing app problems particularly those that are inflicted by some malwares. If you haven’t set your apps to update automatically, then you can manually do so with these steps:

  1. Tap App Store from the Home screen.
  2. From the App Store screen, scroll down to the bottom and then tap on Updates. Doing so will launch a screen containing apps with pending updates.
  3. Find YouTube in the list and then the Update button next to it to instigate YouTube app installation.
  4. If multiple app updates are available, you can tap the Update All button on the upper-right side of the screen.

After updating your apps, restart the phone and then relaunch the YouTube app to see if the problem is gone. If you still can’t play any YouTube videos, then try the next method.

Installing the latest iOS version available for your iPhone XR can also help get rid of software-related errors that caused apps like YouTube to become unstable.

  • If your iPhone is connected to Wi-Fi, you can check for new iOS updates by heading to Settings-> General-> Software Update menu.

An update notification will show up if a new iOS version is available. In that case, just follow the onscreen instructions to download and install new update. Your device must also have ample of storage space and battery life to complete the update.

If Youtube videos won’t play after doing this procedure, then you have to try and remove the app from your phone and then reinstall it.

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Fourth solution: Delete and Reinstall the YouTube app.  

This process will delete or uninstall the YouTube app from your phone and likewise clears the app’s caches and temporary data. Large amount of caches can be accumulated if the app has been active on your device for a long period of time. If that happens, there’s a higher chance that some errant caches had caused the app to fail. That said, it’s recommended to clear apps cache and data regularly. In iOS devices, this can be done by deleting and reinstalling the application. Here’s how it’s done:

  1. Tap Settings from the Home screen.
  2. Select General.
  3. Tap iPhone Storage.
  4. Find and select YouTube app.
  5. Then tap the option to Delete or Uninstall the app.

You can also use the shorter method to delete YouTube from your iPhone XR Home screen. Here’s how it’s done:

  1. From the Home screen, lightly touch and hold the Spotify app icon until it jiggles.
  2. Then tap on the X at the upper-left corner of the YouTube app preview.
  3. Tap Delete when prompted to confirm action.

After deleting YouTube from your iPhone, perform a soft reset or restart the phone and then proceed to these steps to reinstall the app from the App Store:

  1. Tap on the App Store icon from the Home screen.
  2. From the App Store screen, type in YouTube app in the Search box then tap the search icon (magnifying glass)
  3. Tap on the cloud-like icon or Get button to continue.
  4. Then tap Install next to the YouTube app.

Follow the rest of the onscreen prompts to finish installing the application. Once it’s finished, restart your iPhone XR to refresh its memory and operating system. Launch the app and try to see if still Youtube videos won’t play and then move on to the next procedure if the problem wasn’t fixed.

Fifth solution: Refresh Wi-Fi connection.  

Having weak or unstable Wi-Fi Internet connection will also result to this problem. Some videos will automatically crash or fail to load if the connection is too slow. The easiest way to fix this problem is to restart your phone’s Wi-Fi feature. Here’s how it’s done:

  1. From the Home screen, go to Settings.
  2. Select Wi-Fi.
  3. Toggle the switch button to turn it off. Wait for about 30 seconds, then turn it on again.

Then, try to watch a video from your phone’s YouTube app. If nothing is changed, then you might as well consider connecting to another Wi-Fi network and see if that would make a difference.

If Youtube videos won’t play after this procedure, then it’s not just a WiFi connection problem. If you’re using mobile data, the next procedure might help.

Sixth solution: Turn Airplane Mode on and off.

Problems affecting wireless apps and services can also be remedied by toggling the Airplane mode feature of your phone on and off. It’s an alternative way of restarting the phone’s wireless radios and thereby eliminates minor flaws. Here’s how it’s done:

  1. From the Home screen, tap on Settings.
  2. Select Airplane Mode.
  3. Toggle the Airplane Mode switch to turn the feature ON. Doing so disables your phone’s wireless radios including Bluetooth connections and Wi-Fi.
  4. While Airplane Mode is turned ON, restart or soft reset your iPhone.
  5. Allow your phone to finish restarting then head back to Settings-> Airplane Mode menu.
  6. Toggle the switch to turn Airplane Mode off again.

Reconnect your iPhone to the network then try loading videos on the YouTube app. If the Youtube videos won’t play, continue to the next solution.

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Seventh solution: Reset the Network Settings.

Network configuration errors can also affect online apps and services including YouTube. If the problem started after modifying your iPhone’s network settings, then this is likely the underlying cause. To fix the problem, try performing a network settings reset on your iPhone XR with these steps:

  1. Go to Settings app.
  2. Select General.
  3. Scroll down and tap Reset.
  4. Tap Reset Network Settings option. A pop-up message will appear
  5. Tap Reset Network Settings to confirm. (If asked to enter your passcode, enter the correct information to confirm.

After the phone reboots itself and is already on again, open the YouTube app and check if this fixed the video problem.

Eighth solution: Reset all Settings on your iPhone XR.

This reset does not affect any personal data on the internal memory but will delete your customized settings. This reset is often needed after installing new updates for apps and iOS. The problem will likely be resolved by this reset if invalid settings are to blame. Here’s how it’s done:

  1. Open the Settings app from the Home screen.
  2. Select General.
  3. Scroll down and tap Reset.
  4. Tap Reset all settings option.

A pop-up message will then appear. Provide all the required field information to confirm all settings reset. Your phone should restart automatically when the reset is finished. Don’t forget to reconnect to your Wi-Fi network to use online apps and services, particularly YouTube on your iPhone XR.

If you’re getting an error message that says, “Unsupported file” or something similar, it means that the video you are trying to play is not supported by your iPhone. This happens if the video is saved in a certain file format that’s not supported by any of your iOS video apps. While this rarely happens, it is possible. In that case, the problem is neither on your iPhone nor YouTube app.

Youtube videos won’t play on your iPhone XR after doing these?

The problem is likely not with your iPhone XR’s YouTube app if it continues after applying all the above solutions. At this point, you may have to consider contacting Google’s YouTube support for further assistance. While it seldom occurs for Google’s services to fail, there are some factors that can trigger inevitable issues. One of these are unexpected technical errors on the YouTube server. Meanwhile, if the problem only occurs to a specific video or channel, it’s likely an isolated problem to that YouTube video or channel. In that case, you can report the issue to the owner of video or YouTube channel you’re having trouble with

I hope that we’ve been able to help you fix the problem with your device. We would appreciate it if you helped us spread the word so please share this post if you found it helpful. Thank you so much for reading!

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