# Play: Save Videos Watch Later — user reviews

> 226 indexed App Store user reviews of Play by Loop Apps LTDA, rated 4.70/5 from 496 ratings.

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/play-save-videos-watch-later/id1596506190/reviews
- App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/play-save-videos-watch-later/id1596506190.md
- Rating breakdown: 5★ 426 · 4★ 42 · 3★ 11 · 2★ 4 · 1★ 13

## What do users think of Play?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 👍 Great app for managing YouTube videos
- 🚀 Efficient way to organize and watch videos
- 💡 Useful tagging and organization features
- 🔒 Secure and private experience
- 👍 Clean and minimalist interface
- 👍 Frequent updates and improvements

**Cons**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes and stability issues
- 🔒 Subscription required for some key features
- 🔒 Unclear pricing model and paywall
- 🐛 Syncing issues across devices
- 🐛 Slow performance with large video libraries

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Unable to import playlists from YouTube
- Share sheet not working on some platforms
- Inconsistent behavior when adding videos

**Most requested features**

- Ability to reorder tags
- Nested tags or folders for better organization
- Automatic video import from YouTube subscriptions
- Video playback directly within the app
- Bulk editing and management options
- Integration with more streaming services

## Newest reviews (14 of 226)

### 4/5 — Well-designed

*2026-07-18, version 2.9.2*

I’m comparing Play & Unwatched. Both have great designs and multi-platform support. Play has the edge in native iOS feel. It even has widgets which I love! Unwatched has a few features that make it more usable, though: a queue with the ability to drag and drop videos into a desired order & the ability to search for new videos in an in-app YouTube web view and add them to the queue. If Play could iterate on a few of those concepts, I’d make it my primary app.

### 4/5 — Great app!  A few notes.

*2026-06-01, version 2.8.7*

Note: I’m using macOS Sequoia.  1: The "full-screen" button in the lower-right-hand corner doesn’t work when I try to click it.  The video just pauses and unpauses.  2. It would be nice to be able to do picture-in-picture.  I don’t know if that’s what the button that doesn’t work for me is supposed to do.  3. When going "full screen", the video will often restart back at the beginning of the video.  4: Sometimes I click the CC button because I’m having trouble making out what somebody said, especially when watching videos in different languages.  When you do this, there is a large "Subtitles/CC turned on" banner that pops up in a spot that hides the subtitles, so I have to wait a couple seconds for this to go away to actually see the closed captions.  Could this be moved to a different part of the screen or made to go away quicker?  It would be nice to be able to see the subtitles as soon as you click the button without having to wait, and I prefer not to have the subtitles on all the time, only when I can’t make out a word.  Besides these minor things, I greatly appreciate the app!  It is super useful for escaping the YouTube algorithm and gaining back control over the videos you watch!

### 4/5 — Much needed in 2026

*2026-05-14*

Thank you for creating an amazing app to help me cut back on Youtube and intentionally watch only educational or fun content that I really want to view without the algo.

Can you please add a feature to auto delete videos that don’t get watched after 7 days, 14 days or a month etc so the list doesn’t get too long like the “watch later” playlist does. Save me some watch guilt haha.

**Developer response:** Thank you for your review! I’m glad to hear that Play has been helpful.

Automatically deleting old videos can be tricky because it may confuse users or remove content unexpectedly, but I can consider implementing a dedicated section that lists older videos and lets you delete them all with a single tap.

### 5/5 — My YouTube Front-End

*2026-05-05*

Not only do I use Play to queue the videos I want to watch, it replaces the YouTube UI so that I don’t have to deal with the algorithm. I just see what I want. It’s easy to add a video to my list. It’s easy to watch what I’ve saved.

**Developer response:** Thanks for the kind words! Happy to have you using the app. I’ll keep working to make it even better!

### 5/5 — Watch what you want, organized

*2026-04-29, version 2.8.1*

This app is the best way to organize floods of YouTube subscriptions so you watch what you choose. Very responsive developer and lots of improvements all the time. With the recent pricing improvements it is totally worth a try.

### 5/5 — My Favorite Indie Developer

*2026-04-25*

Love the app. It is the only serious alternative to watch YouTube videos on iOS and has many intelligent features and a very thoughtful design. I like the inbox feature to triage the videos. The developer is super friendly, responsive and continuously improves the app.

**Developer response:** Thanks for the kind words! Happy to have you using the app. I’ll keep working to make it even better!

### 4/5 — It’s free now, yippee!

*2026-04-16*

Always felt strange paying upfront and then having the subscription model. This feels more natural :)

**Developer response:** Because the data needed to summarize the video comes from a paid API. Other features that rely solely on Apple Intelligence, such as tags and icon suggestions, are free.

### 5/5 — Au point

*2026-04-15*

Après une période délicate, cette application est arrivée a maturité

Je révais depuis plusieurs années d’une telle application pour cataloguer des vidéos YouTube. 
Bravo au développeur, déjà auteur de l’indispensable MusicHarbor, de l’avoir réalisée. Tout y est et il ne faut pas hésiter à aller fouiner dans les réglages pour affiner l’interface à sa convenance.

A noter aussi, une très bonne réactivité du développeur.

**Developer response:** Merci beaucoup pour vos gentils mots et pour avoir pris le temps de donner votre avis sur l’application !

### 4/5 — App lock needed

*2026-04-13, version 2.2.3*

Hi! Can you add an app lock for the Apple TV app please?

### 5/5 — Saved my relationship with YouTube! 10/10 would recommend

*2026-04-11, version 2.7.5*

This dev is a damn genius, the app rocks. If you feel addicted to YouTube, just download it and enjoy distraction free viewing of your favorite channels. I paid for the Lifetime membership - it’s that good.

### 5/5 — Demande de fonctionnalité

*2026-03-22*

Très bonne application : interface claire, organisation efficace, et surtout sans Shorts ni recommandations/ usage beaucoup plus sain.

Manque important : aucune synchronisation entre appareils. Une synchro iCloud ou via compte est nécessaire pour pouvoir utiliser l’appli sur iPad et téléphone. 

Ajout utile aussi : un mode français pour l’interface.

**Developer response:** Merci beaucoup pour ton retour détaillé ! Trop content que l’app te plaise. Je travaille actuellement sur la localisation de l’app dans plusieurs langues, et le français est prévu !

### 5/5 — Quality

*2026-03-20*

So much better than the YouTube app, and made by just one person. Makes you wonder why YouTube doesn’t work like this…

**Developer response:** Thank you so much for your amazing review!

### 2/5 — Bait and switch

*2026-02-26, version 2.7.1*

This app was recommended by daring fireball, but it was a few years ago and I saved it to try some sometime. Unfortunately I strongly don't recommend it because it feels like a bait and switch. For three dollars, you don't get folders. Folders, a super advanced feature of sidebars, requires another ****ing subscription, for an app that simply holds lists of things to watch.

That would be forgivable if the subscription would solve any problems. The app feels really unpolished for 2026, the workflow is really clunky, the user experience is unoptimized for the specific job it's supposed to do. It's more work for me to find something to watch in this app and to start watching it than it is for me too do it in YouTube, which is already annoying and inconvenient.

### 5/5 — Waiting for upd

*2026-02-22*

I want to love this app. Can you please update it so I can watch YouTube from application? Now I can not. I wanted today. Wanted to send feedback private but it was not easy. Not mentioned email which I can copy and paste.

Thank you!

**Developer response:** Thank you for your feedback! I’m sorry you’re having trouble watching YouTube within the app. It should already support that feature, so if you’re still experiencing issues, please send me the details along with screenshots to marcosatanaka@gmail.com.

## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated)

### 1/5 — Glitch

*2026-08-23, version 2.9.4*

Trying to open settings crashes the app.

### 1/5 — Not happy

*2026-04-18*

I paid for this app before it went to subscription and now have to pay again. I hate the subscription grift.

**Developer response:** That is not true. People who purchased before it switched to a subscription model retain access to the features they bought.

### 1/5 — features now behind a subscription?

*2026-04-12*

wait, so features I used in an application I paid for are now behind a subscription? And you want me to pay £99 to *restore* functionality removed in the latest update?

**Developer response:** If features you had access before are now locked, this is a bug. Get in touch via support so I can help you.

### 1/5 — Improving

*2026-04-11*

I like where this app is going. I would recommend a video quality and audio only option. With the “channels” feature now with the option to “auto-add” I wish there was a button to retrieve those videos and avoid the Channels window entirely (and of course add a background check like refresh every hour). The app DESPERATELY needs an Archive section and folders would be helpful (to bookmark loved videos and organize them beyond just stashing them all in Watched and using tags. It’s strange that you can’t swipe for actions on the Mac app.

**Developer response:** Adjusting the video quality is possible directly within the embedded YouTube player. Currently, YouTube doesn’t offer a reliable way for apps to control or override quality settings outside of its player.

YouTube Developer Policies also prohibit third-party apps to provide a separate audio-only or background playback mode, so this is a feature I cannot provide.

I think the current “Watched” list already serves much of the same purpose as an “Archive” section. The same applies to folders, where the current tagging system already provides a flexible, folder-like way to organize content. But I’d love to hear your perspective.

Swiping for actions isn’t the most intuitive interaction on the Mac, in my opinion. Instead, Play embraces more native interaction patterns, such as context menus, menu bar actions for selected items, and keyboard shortcuts.

### 1/5 — subscriptionssubscriptionssubscriptions

*2026-02-09, version 2.6.8*

App works fine, but I HATE apps where you purchase it, then it goes subscription and doesn’t give you premium.

### 1/5 — Stay away

*2026-01-29, version 2.6.7*

This is a big scam, they first charge you for the app a one time purchase to find out that you will need a subscription to do some basic stuff, and this is far from useful, it’s so hard to add videos, I dont see any reason someone should use this over YouTube.

At first I thought this would be perfect if it would look like YouTube as a macOS app, but it’s far from that, It’s so not useful, and they charge you for the app to be able to charge you more, what a way to upset customers.

### 1/5 — Broken

*2025-11-09, version 2.2.3*

Can’t play YouTube videos in the app anymore. Error every time.

### 1/5 — Sadly disappointing…

*2025-10-29*

Regrettably, the video summaries are generated in English. Having them in German would be much appreciated.
—
(Bedauerlicherweise werden die Videozusammenfassungen auf Englisch erstellt. Eine deutsche Version wäre sehr willkommen.)

### 1/5 — No You Tube subscriptions/playlists

*2025-09-20, version 2.6.1*

Trying the free version, but it doesn’t handle YouTube subscription or playlists.

### 1/5 — Subscribing to use Apple Intelligence feels… not great

*2025-09-17, version 2.6.0*

Like, it feels like paying to open my camera. You get what I mean?

This is a feature that apple designed, is a selling point for their phones, runs completely on-device or via apple’s servers, uses their models, and is free. So why am I being charged to summarise a video :|

## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated)

### 5/5 — Thoughtfully designed and works better than imagined

*2026-07-23*

Very happy to be using the app. I had infact started building a similar one myself since I wasn’t happy with using a RSS feed reader for YouTube videos. Using the app on Apple TV is a bonus, in addition to using it on phone and iPad.

**Developer response:** Thanks! Glad to hear you’re enjoying the app.

### 5/5 — Streamline your YouTube videos

*2026-07-07*

As a long-term user of Play I really appreciate the many improvements over time. It’s great to have my YouTube subscriptions synced on all my devices without any interference from YouTube algorithm. Especially with more than one Google account it’s a big time saver to have everything in place in Play.

**Developer response:** Thank you so much for the review!

### 5/5 — Works great on all Platform

*2026-07-03*

I love this app!
One of my favorites, and the developer is incredibly responsive.

A lot of reviews mention getting sent to YouTube directly, but that's actually just one option. You can watch videos right in the app instead, either inline or by pressing the space bar to open a Quick Look–style popup. This lets me watch what I want and skip the rest. And all the small little details in the app make it a delight to use. ✨

**Developer response:** Thank you so much! I really appreciate the kind words, and I'm so glad you noticed all the little details that went into the app.

### 5/5 — Very Helpful

*2026-07-01, version 2.9.1*

The app makes it easy to “transfer” videos from iPhone & iPad over to the Apple TV device.  Love it, and I use it every day for 3+ years.

### 5/5 — A couple feature requests

*2026-06-21*

Hello, could you add the ability for one to copy tags from one video and paste them on another? 

Could you also add more icons to use for the tags? I have a lot and want more options please. It would be cool if you would allow all SF symbols. 

Whenever creating new auto tag rules, can you also add a copy and paste method where the user can copy the condition and paste it. I like how we are able to copy and paste the auto searching rules. But when going into that rule and setting the conditions, we are not. 

Could you also add the ability to keep the transcripts downloaded, so I don’t have to click the button to get the transcripts every time. 

Thank you very much!

**Developer response:** Thank you for the review! The next update will include improvements in most of the areas you mentioned.

### 5/5 — Greatest app to keep a track of videos to watch and not to clog a web-browser.

*2026-06-04*

Using it since first week of release and can’t ask for more! Feels like an app, Apple should release themselves.

**Developer response:** Thank you so much for the kind words!

### 5/5 — Feature request

*2026-05-22*

Hello, could you add a better editor for the notes section? Sometimes I like to make elaborate notes for videos. It would be awesome if the editor could become fullscreen, perhaps support markdown, maybe support references to tags or other videos, and an export feature. I would very much appreciate this!

Could you also add the ability to keep the transcripts downloaded, so I don’t have to click the button to get the transcripts every time?

Thank you. Awesome app!

**Developer response:** Thank you so much for your review and feature requests! The next update will introduce a completely new notes editor that includes all the features you requested. It should already be available for download within the next few days.

### 5/5 — So much better than using YouTube directly

*2026-05-19*

Worth paying for the premium features

**Developer response:** Thanks so much for your review!

### 5/5 — Delete old videos

*2026-05-16*

Perfect could be an option but your solution sounds really good too!

### 5/5 — Meu app preferido

*2026-05-11*

Adoro o Play pois me ajuda a usar o YouTube de forma mais eficiente. Aqui vejo o que eu realmente quero assistir, e não o que o algoritmo do YouTube fica me empurrando.

**Developer response:** Obrigado pela avaliação! É muito bom saber que o Play faz parte da sua rotina.

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-14.*