# Unwatched for YouTube — user reviews > 252 indexed App Store user reviews of Unwatched for YouTube by Pentland Firth Software GmbH, rated 4.70/5 from 386 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/unwatched-for-youtube/id6477287463/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/unwatched-for-youtube/id6477287463.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 328 · 4★ 35 · 3★ 5 · 2★ 6 · 1★ 12 ## What do users think of Unwatched for YouTube? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 👍 Great functionality - 🚀 Perfect for YouTube picture-in-picture and background audio - 👍 Wonderful YouTube replacement - 👍 Excellent app - 👍 Brilliant app - 👍 Thoughtful and well-designed - 👍 Impressive queue management **Cons** - 🐛 PiP is broken on iPhone - 🐛 Buggy and often freezes iPad - 🐛 Crashes when marking too many videos as watched - 🐛 Experimental iCloud sync issues **Commonly reported bugs** - Another video opens when screen is flipped - Queue not loading on Apple TV - App crashes on iOS 18.1 beta **Most requested features** - Download videos within the app - Organize videos in dedicated playlists - Add player to Apple TV app - Option to not remove videos from inbox until fully watched - Remember right-most tab state through app restarts - Support for webview YouTube sign-in with passkeys - Add light mode option - Provide tutorial for first-time users ## Newest reviews (19 of 252) ### 4/5 — Not as good as FreeTube *2026-08-04, version 1.8.8* This shouldn't have a subscription. There are alternatives that are not only better, but entirely open-source/free. Unfortunately, this seems to be the best application of this utility on the iOS app store. If you can use a computer instead of an Apple phone, FreeTube walks laps around this in terms of utility, cuatomization, privacy, and is completely free. ### 2/5 — PIP doesn’t work *2026-07-14, version 1.8.8* I’m on an iPhone 16 pro max and pip does not work for me when I swipe down it pauses the video and just goes back to portrait mode. Also background audio does not work either. ### 2/5 — Was great. Not so much now. *2026-06-30, version 1.8.6* Somehow I found this app, and it completely changed my YouTube watching for the better. Unfortunately, the last few months it seems to have lost the ability to continue the audio when I switch to another app. What happened? ### 2/5 — fixis *2026-05-16, version 1.8.6* 1. it dos not hide shorts 2. when scrolling and push on a video and go back it well began from the first video and i have to scroll again 3. it dos not show the comments without opening the youtube ### 4/5 — Has YT broken this app? *2026-05-16, version v1.8.5* I love Unwatched and have used it for well over a year at this point, but tonight when I went to use it, every single video brought up a YT screen saying I have to sign in to play the video. If I wanted to sign in, I wouldn’t be using Unwatched. Happy to email support if that will help. ### 5/5 — Großartige App *2026-05-09* Wirklich großartig, faire und solide App. Kein Premium Zwang und alles was man braucht. Ich hätte nur einen Feature Wunsch, eine Suche nach Videos. (Oder ein schnellerer Zugang zum eingebetteten YouTube Browser) Weiter so! ### 5/5 — 10/5 stars *2026-05-01, version v1.8.5* thank you for this app ### 4/5 — Hammer App *2026-04-26* Einziges Problem: alle paar Monate lässt sich die App nicht mehr öffnen und es ist nur ein Blackscreen da. App muss dann neu installiert werden. **Developer response:** Tut mir leid zu hören dass nicht alles funktioniert wie es soll. Über mehr Details bezüglich des Blackscreens würde ich mich freuen. Betrifft das die komplette App? Oder nur den Video Player? Bestimmte Schritte die ich durchführen kann um das Problem zu reproduzieren? Eine Nachricht an unwatched@icloud.com wäre super, danke :) – Michael ### 5/5 — Very helpful *2026-04-26, version v1.8.5* I got this cause I am always bombarded by Shorts when I try to watch YouTube and this is a great alternative. I like how simple things are and no ads is a plus ### 5/5 — how is it this good *2026-04-23, version v1.8.5* i’m completely spoiled by this app. organizing the videos I want to watch is not just made easy, it’s done in a way that other app has presented to me before, and I can’t go back to anything else. I feel so much better going through my backlog and selecting what I actually want to watch using this app ### 5/5 — I use this to avoid youtube shorts *2026-04-23, version v1.8.5* Everything works great + No ads or asking for me to buy anything ### 5/5 — Amazing app and great support *2026-04-17, version v1.8.5* Very happy with this app so far and the support was great too! ### 5/5 — I can watch what I want to watch in peace. Changed my life forever. *2026-04-17, version v1.8.5* I didn’t realize how much noise I was living with until I started using Unwatched. No algorithm pulling me in five directions. No autoplay. No distractions. Just me, the video, and silence. It’s more than just a YouTube wrapper—it’s freedom. It’s how the internet should feel. Thank you for giving me control back. ### 5/5 — User-Centric YouTube at its Finest *2026-04-05, version v1.8.4* What an amazing app! This app exemplifies the value of strong, dedicated, independent developers within the Apple ecosystem. In an era of algorithmically generated slop on YouTube, it’s great to get the opportunity to watch my favorite quality creators in a clear, unobtrusive, thoughtful, user-centric experience. Keep up the good work! ### 5/5 — Finally ! *2026-04-04, version v1.8.4* Awesome App, well overdue on iOS… if premium goes live, please make it a one time purchase and not a monthly payment. Also please consider adding rumble, twitch videos, perhaps that could be included in premium!? Thanks for the best piece of software on Apple systems! ### 5/5 — Perfect *2026-04-04, version v1.8.4* I was sick and tired of scrolling constantly. Lack of self control because shorts was right there. YouTube is definitely an essential so this is a Lifesaver!!! ### 5/5 — Super great! But a new bug with latest update *2026-04-01, version v1.8.4* Just updating with a 5 starts, although the latest update fixed the issue where the video wouldn't pause and will continuesly play again. This update that fixed the prior bug has stopped background playing. On my iPhone 17 I used to be able to shuffle through the apps and the audio will still play but now that's only possible only if picture in picture is enabled on the video. ### 5/5 — Easiest 5 star ever and I got it 30 minutes ago. *2026-04-01, version v1.8.4* This app is so good. It Litterly has everything you could need. There’s too much good to talk about that it would take to long to write out. Litterly havnt found a bad thing yet. UI might be a tad difficult to navigate but I just havnt gotten used to it yet since I’m so used to YouTube app shortcuts. Being able to filter out shorts is amazing too! Also when you add a paid tier for newer features please make it so it’s not subscription based and I can pay like 20 bucks for a lifetime premium mode. ### 5/5 — A lifesaver *2026-03-30, version v1.8.4* I love this app! Phenomenal tool to just focus on adding certain videos to a queue that you can work on and pick up whenever you have time. Plus, it keeps your preferred playback speed, unlike the YouTube app. Great work! ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Bad quality with glitches a lot *2026-04-15, version v1.8.5* At first, I liked the idea behind this app, but the implementation is of very low quality. I am not even talking about the fact that the developer made the premium functionality supposedly temporarily free. In reality, it feels like this is simply a way to let users act as test subjects in order to collect feedback on the many bugs that are still present and do not seem to be disappearing from this app. In other words, users are being used as free testers. Later, the developer will most likely introduce a paid subscription wall, abandon the early users, and not give them lifetime premium access. That is why I do not recommend acting as free testers, especially since the app has a lot of problems. First of all, on iPad, with the same settings as on iPhone, YouTube opens in light mode instead of dark mode. Also, the app does not work in the background at all. In many web browsers, you can open YouTube, start a video without switching it to full-screen mode, then turn off the screen, and the audio will still keep playing. In this app, however, as soon as you turn off the screen, playback stops immediately. The entire history and viewing library is extremely inconvenient, because everything gets added everywhere at the same time. If you watch something without subscribing, later you have to waste a lot of time cleaning up these traces from different bookmarks, sub-bookmarks, menus, and submenus. If you open a video, there is not even a proper Back button. You open a channel, choose a video, watch it, and then want to watch another video from the same channel. But you cannot simply press Back and return to that channel. Instead, you have to search for the channel again and open it again. And there are many similar issues. Language support is another problem. The developer seems too lazy even to use ChatGPT to translate the interface into other languages. Overall, I will pass on this app. It is up to you whether to use it or not, but I am tired of it. There is more frustration than enjoyment here. …. Al principio me gustó la idea de esta aplicación, pero la implementación es de muy baja calidad. Ni siquiera hablo del hecho de que el desarrollador haya hecho que la funcionalidad premium sea supuestamente gratuita de forma temporal. En realidad, da la impresión de que simplemente permite que los usuarios actúen como conejillos de indias para recopilar comentarios sobre la gran cantidad de errores que siguen presentes y que no parecen querer desaparecer de esta aplicación. En otras palabras, los usuarios están siendo usados como testers gratuitos. Más adelante, lo más probable es que el desarrollador introduzca un muro de pago con suscripción, abandone a los primeros usuarios y no les dé acceso premium de por vida. Por eso no recomiendo actuar como testers gratuitos, especialmente teniendo en cuenta la cantidad de problemas que tiene la aplicación. En primer lugar, en iPad, con los mismos ajustes que en iPhone, YouTube se abre en modo claro en lugar de modo oscuro. Además, la aplicación no funciona en segundo plano en absoluto. En muchos navegadores web puedes abrir YouTube, iniciar un video sin ponerlo en pantalla completa, apagar la pantalla y el audio seguirá reproduciéndose. Sin embargo, en esta aplicación, en cuanto apagas la pantalla, la reproducción se detiene inmediatamente. Toda la biblioteca de historial y visualizaciones es extremadamente incómoda, porque todo se añade en todas partes al mismo tiempo. Si ves algo sin suscribirte, después tienes que perder mucho tiempo limpiando esos rastros de diferentes marcadores, submarcadores, menús y submenús. Si abres un video, ni siquiera hay un botón Atrás adecuado. Entras a un canal, eliges un video, lo ves y luego quieres ver otro video del mismo canal. Pero no puedes simplemente pulsar Atrás y volver a ese canal. En su lugar, tienes que buscar el canal otra vez y abrirlo de nuevo. Y hay muchos problemas similares. El soporte de idiomas es otro problema. El desarrollador parece demasiado perezoso incluso para usar ChatGPT y traducir la interfaz a otros idiomas. En general, pasaré de esta aplicación. Es decisión de cada uno usarla o no, pero yo ya estoy cansado. Aquí hay más frustración que satisfacción. … 一开始，我很喜欢这款应用的想法，但它的实现质量非常低。我甚至还没有提到开发者所谓“暂时免费”开放高级功能这件事。实际上，这给人的感觉更像是让用户充当实验对象，用来收集关于大量错误的反馈，而这些错误到现在仍然存在，并且似乎完全没有要从这款应用中消失的意思。换句话说，用户被当成了免费的测试人员。 之后，开发者很可能会推出付费订阅墙，抛弃早期用户，而且不会给他们终身高级会员权限。因此，我不建议大家充当免费的测试人员，尤其是这款应用本身还存在这么多问题。 首先，在 iPad 上，即使使用与 iPhone 相同的设置，YouTube 也会以浅色主题打开，而不是深色主题。另外，这款应用在后台根本无法工作。在很多网页浏览器中，你可以打开 YouTube，在不全屏播放视频的情况下开始播放，然后关闭屏幕，音频仍然会继续播放。但在这款应用里，只要你关闭屏幕，播放就会立刻停止。 整个历史记录和观看库也非常不方便，因为所有内容都会同时被添加到各个地方。如果你在没有订阅的情况下看了一些内容，之后就必须浪费大量时间，从各种书签、子书签、菜单和子菜单里清理这些痕迹。 如果你打开一个视频，甚至连一个正常的返回按钮都没有。你进入一个频道，选择一个视频并观看，之后想看同一个频道里的另一个视频。但你不能简单地按返回键回到该频道，而是必须重新搜索这个频道，再重新打开它。类似的问题还有很多。 语言支持也是一个问题。开发者似乎甚至懒得用 ChatGPT 把界面翻译成其他语言。 总的来说，我会选择放弃这款应用。是否使用它是你们自己的决定，但我已经累了。它带来的折磨比享受更多。 ### 1/5 — Doesn't work *2026-02-16, version 1.8.2* Just opens normal YouTube. This app is literally pointless ### 1/5 — Bruh *2026-01-24, version 1.8.2* This can’t even play outside the app. I like to play games and listen, not be forced to do one or the other, which sucks because it’s the only reason I feel it’s not good enough to keep downloaded :( ### 1/5 — Incredibly confusing *2026-01-17, version 1.8.1* I have no idea how to use this app. There’s barely any guide or tutorial so I’m completely lost on how it’s supposed to work or what I’m supposed to be able to do. Like, why won’t my inbox show more than 10 videos? How do I get it to show more? Can i sort the videos in my inbox/queue at all? How do I add videos not in my inbox into the queue? Can I sort videos into a playlist in the app so I can add them all to the queue later? None of these things are explained even a little. So overall this app is nothing but a confusing mess ### 1/5 — Latest update broke the app *2025-12-04, version 1.8.0* Prior to the latest update, the Unwatched app no longer reliably loaded new videos from channels I was subscribed to in the Inbox tab. The inbox only displays new videos for about 5-10% of the channels I am subscribed to. For the other 90-95% of the channels I am subscribed to through the Unwatched app, the app no longer loads new videos for those channels. This meant that the only way to learn that new videos had been released was through using the YouTube Tab in this app. To my dismay, the latest update removed the YouTube Tab. This change has completely broken this application. I now have no way at all to watch 90-95% of the new videos released by the channels I subscribe to. I don’t understand how anyone gives this app more than one star given that it doesn’t let you subscribe to channels and then watch videos released by those channels. This app should be called Unreliable for YouTube. It’s bursting at the seams with bugs. ### 1/5 — Won’t never download this never again *2025-11-25, version 1.7.1* So people don’t is trash and bad for you ### 1/5 — UI Navigation Is Nonexistent *2025-10-31, version 1.7.1* Unwatched is genuinely trash and clunky to the max. It's plagued with bugs and the Dev' CLEARLY does not do any testing on his own app! ### 1/5 — Navigation Is Nonexistent *2025-10-01, version 1.7.0* Terrible Interface: Bottom Toolbar contains: "Queue - Inbox - Library" but no Settings? Additionally, the app needs some form of sorting already added-videos located in library. ### 1/5 — Clunky unintuitive interface *2025-09-29, version 1.7.0* Why is the last played video just always in your face or sitting on the top of the screen? Seriously I want to like this app but the interface is horrible. Why can’t it just load the YouTube homepage? Why does it default right into the player of the last played video? I have accidentally restarted an already watched video by accidentally touching the player controls or sending it into pip mode multiple times. It makes using the app completely unenjoyable. And the apple tv app is so barebones it might as well not even exist. You literally can’t use it without your phone. Like I know it’s free but man, what a frustrating experience. ### 1/5 — It doesn’t show all videos *2025-07-06, version 1.6.5* In the subscription section it’s only showing about two videos per creator when I know they have thousands. I can’t change it. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Amazing App *2026-07-27, version 1.8.8* Great app that respects user privacy while giving the functionality of Youtube with no ads. Not many apps out there for iOS and this is a game changer ### 5/5 — Great app but too much freezing *2026-07-26, version 1.8.8* The queue system is great, so is pip. however, it keeps freezing, then my iPad gets really hot. hope it gets fixed soon. thank you! ### 5/5 — Awesome *2026-07-18, version 1.8.8* Really nice and easy to use. No bloat, no ads, no shorts! ### 5/5 — Great app, but I have an isssue. *2026-07-10, version 1.8.7* I love the app, because I can get around YouTube Premium. Recently, though, background play has stopped working. ### 5/5 — best app ever *2026-07-09, version 1.8.6* no seriously this app rocks ### 5/5 — Autoplay isnt working anymore *2026-07-09, version 1.8.6* I used to have this on background play butbit suddenly stopped working. I tried everything i could think of but the background play is just not there at all. ### 5/5 — 11/10 *2026-06-23, version 1.8.6* greatest free app available. Thank you ### 5/5 — Amazing way to not pay for US service but still use it. *2026-06-15, version 1.8.6* As a Canadian I am now big into the boycott US, I don’t like taking money away from creators but Google is in the US and the creators need to find non-US alternatives to YouTube. Just wish I could use this app while other apps were in the foreground. Some apps work that way while others do not. ### 5/5 — Folders? *2026-06-03, version 1.8.6* Great app. Very useful if you follow many channels and need a way to focus just on the essential videos. One thing I would appreciate is the ability to have folders so you can sort videos by subject. I want to keep sports videos separate from the news and it would make it easier to sort through. ### 5/5 — love the app *2026-05-27, version 1.8.6* i love the app but occasionally it gets very “stuck”. it will hang on launch — black screen, zero interaction. you can tell it’s doing something— because it makes the phone get hot just sitting there. the only solution i’ve found to this is to uninstall the app completely and reinstall. this unfortunately deletes all my settings, subscriptions, etc. which is really a drag. i’m a developer myself and know the importance of those star ratings. i’ve given you five stars — in spouse of this issue— and with the hope that you’ll fix it soon. i’d be happy to help you identify and fix the issue if you need help. i’m @isaiah on mastodon. thanks again for a great app. --- *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 2026-08-27.*