YouTube Not Working on iPhone? Top 8 Easy Ways to Fix

What Causes “YouTube Not Working on iPhone”?

According to some iPhone users, they are experiencing the “YouTube does not work on iPhone” issue. However, the exact error message varies from user to user. Before fixing YouTube not working on iPhone, let's look at the types of errors and reasons why YouTube won't work on iPhone.

Error type 1. "Playback Error, Tap to Retry"

This is the most common YouTube error you will encounter while you are using YouTube on your iPhone or iPad. It could be due to the Ad-blocker, expired premium membership, corrupted YouTube cache, etc. Your video might have stopped while playing or didn’t play at all. 

Error type 2. "An error occurred, please try again later"

When this error happens, only a black screen appears on your YouTube. Most of the time, this problem is caused by issues with the network connection.

Error type 3. "Sorry, this video is not available on this device"

When you are watching YouTube on a web browser on the iPhone or iPad, you may also see the following error. This can be caused by many reasons, Ad-blocker, corrupted YouTube cache, poor network connection, etc.

How to Fix YouTube Not Working on iPhone 15/16 - 8 Ways

After figuring out the possible situations and reasons, let’s know how to fix YouTube not working on iPhones. Here are 8 ways, and you can choose one of them as needed.

Way 1. Restart the YouTube app and iPhone

Actually, the most direct and easiest way to solve the issue of “YouTube is not working on iPhone” is restarting your app or your iPhone. In some cases, the issue just exists temporarily. And you can just do it if it appears the first time.

For those users who get the app stuck or crashes, then it is easier to make a force restart by pressing and quickly releasing the volume up button, pressing and quickly releasing the volume down button, then pressing and holding the side button. When the Apple logo appears, release the button.

Way 2. Check and reset your network setting

Network issue is also one of the causes of “YouTube App not working on iPhone 15/14/13/12/11/ X”. For this reason, we’d better check our Internet and reset the network settings. Go to “Settings” > “General” > “Transfer or Reset iPhone” > “Reset” > “Reset Network Settings”. 

After that, check whether your issue has gone.      

Way 3. Update YouTube app and iOS version

If you just update your YouTube app to the recent version and didn’t update the iOS version, then the issue “YouTube not working on iPhone 15/14/13/12/11/ X” may appear. Therefore, update your YouTube app and iOS version both. Then you can check whether the issue exists or not.

▄ Update iOS software:

Go to “Settings” > “General” > “Software Update” to check the latest version and install it.

▄ Update YouTube app:

Long-press “App Store” and then update YouTube.

Step 3. Finally, run YouTube to check whether the issue remains.

Way 4. Turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

The unworkable Wi-Fi can also trigger off the issue. It’s quite usual for us to meet with some cases like Wi-Fi shows pretty good but it actually doesn’t work. For this reason, we could turn off it and then enable a Cellular network for YouTube.

Step 1. Swipe down the control center and then turn off Wi-Fi.

Step 2. Go to “Settings” > “Cellular” > “YouTube”. Slide the button to green to enable it.

Way 5. Reinstall YouTube app

If the solutions above seem not to work for you to tackle the problem, then you can uninstall and reinstall the YouTube app. And according to some users, this shot is effective for most users and some bugs disappear after they reinstall the app.

Long press the YouTube app and then upload it. Go to “App Store” and then search “YouTube” to get it. After that, run YouTube to see if the issue exists.

Way 6. Clear the Youtube cache

You may open apps like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to kill time several times a day. However, these apps can save a ton of redundant data that takes up lots of space on your iPhone. And the full iPhone storage can lead to the “YouTube app not working on iPhone”. Therefore, it is wise to delete and clear the cache.

Step 1. Open “Settings” > “General”.

Step 2. Click on "iPhone Storage".

Step 3. Select the programs you want to clear cache from.

Step 4. Click "Offload" and then confirm.

Way 7. Turn off and on the Airplane mode

When you turn off the Airplane mode, then all the settings and the network will be refreshed. You could try this easy way to refresh all the settings. After that, open Airplane mode and then check whether YouTube keeps working.

Step 1. Swipe down to enter “Control Center” and then click on the plane icon to turn off the Airplane mode.

Step 2. Wait for a while and then turn on it.

Step 3. Run YouTube again to see whether the issue has gone.

Way 8. Enable Background App Refresh

You should ensure that background app refresh is enabled for YouTube on iPhone devices. The App Refresh will help keep YouTube working smoothly.

Step 1. Go to “Settings”.

Step 2. Scroll down and find YouTube. Tap on it.

Step 3. Under “ALLOW YOUTUBE TO ACCESS”, enable “Background App Refresh”.

Bonus tips: Back up data to avoid data loss in advance

Some workarounds we gave above may cause data loss on your iPhone or iPad. Therefore, if you have important data on your devices, we recommend using the free and professional transfer and backup tool-- AOMEI FoneBackup. With it, you can transfer some data, such as photos, messages, music, and so on to your PC. If your data loses, you can restore it from your PC whenever you want.

Step 1. Download and install AOMEI FoneBackup on your PC. Prepare a USB cable and then connect your iPhone to a computer.  Run it on your PC and then tap Trust on your iPhone.

Step 2. Click Phone Backup > Locate Selective Backup and click Get Started.

Step 3. Click the box area to select the data you want to backup. After choosing, click on OK.

Step 4. Click Start Backup and your backup would be saved to your PC in a few seconds.

Step 5. Now you can delete those data on your iPhone and then run YouTube again to check whether it can perform well. When you need those data, you can restore them selectively.

★Tip:

 In addition to backing up iPhone to PC, you can backup pictures to iCloud using this tool.

FAQs About “YouTube not Working on iPhone”

Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about “YouTube not working on iPhone”:

Q1: Is YouTube down for iPhone users?

Before assuming it's an issue with your device, check if YouTube is experiencing outages. You can do this by visiting websites or social media platforms that report service disruptions. If YouTube is indeed down, you'll have to wait until it's back up.

Q2: How can I fix the "Playback Error" on YouTube for iPhone?

The "Playback Error" message can be frustrating, but often, it's due to issues with the app's cache or internet connection. Try clearing the app's cache, restarting your iPhone, or switching to a different network (if possible).

Q3: How do I clear the cache on the YouTube app for iPhone?

Clearing the app cache can sometimes resolve performance issues. To do this, open the YouTube app, tap on your profile picture, go to "Settings," then "Privacy," and finally, tap on "Clear watch history" and "Clear search history."

Conclusion

By using the 8 ways above, I guess you must get over the issue “YouTube not working on iPhone”, such as restarting iPhone or YouTube app, resetting the network, and updating the YouTube app or iOS version... What’s more, if you are afraid of losing data on your iPhone, you can use AOMEI FoneBackup to back up your data on your computer in advance. Why not give it a try? Download AOMEI FoneBackup and use it right now!