Not gonna lie, I have cut a bunch of subscriptions but youtube premium is the one I tried to cut and couldn't fucking do it. Even before the ad block debacle. It was impossible to block ads on mobile (where I spend most If my youtube time) . I tried new pipe but that experience honestly sucked. THE ADS ARE FUCKING ABSURD. Like literally unusable fucking garbage. I've had premium for years and got spoiled I guess but if I couldn't afford premium youtube would go into the graveyard of the 2023 internet enshitification along with Netflix and reddit. Even $30 a month for my family is worth it. It is 90% of my entertainment now that reddit is gone.
It sucks because it is a synthetic, created need. That ad revenue doesn't go to creators, they have their own ads. The need for youtube premium is purely due to their extortion. But I submit, they win. Clicking a video you want to watch and seeing those yellow hash marks on the time bar makes me want to put my head through a wall and youtube premium makes all that anger just... not be.
I've been going with no ads on mobile for years and years now. It's been painless with Vanced and now its successor ReVanced. Unlike with YT Premium, ReVanced also has the added bonus of SponsorBlock. It just makes modern YouTube so much better and is entirely free.
Downside is yeah it won't work on iOS... Tbh, it's one of the main reasons why I refuse to buy an iOS device. I can't fucking stand in video ads.
Watching YouTube in a mobile browser is a shit experience imo. It's better than using the stock YouTube app with ads out the wazoo, but it's still not a great experience. Not being able to utilize PIP mode while browsing for a new video or inside of another app really sucks.
Firefox+unlock+SponsorBlock is fantastic for desktop. But it's subpar for mobile imo.
Good point, I didn't realize I'd never done picture-in-picture on the phone. For me, it's enough to do split-screen with e.g. a game in the second screen.
More and more I get tempted to get an iPhone (Pro) especially now they have USB-C, but until sideloading there becomes as easy as it is on Android, it's still gonna be a tough sell for me.