YouTube is one of the widely used mobile apps among Android and iOS devices. It serves as an open platform to stream various types of videos for personal entertainment, work, or business purposes. The fact that YouTube videos are free to watch makes it a go-to place by anyone who yearns to spend time streaming. YouTube is indeed a sturdy app as it’s backed by the Internet giant itself.
Nonetheless, it’s not totally flawless. In fact, YouTube also experiences random downtimes and errors like any other robust apps do. To give you some inputs on how to deal with these random issues, I’ve mapped some helpful workarounds that are used to troubleshoot YouTube app problems on an iPad Pro device. Feel free to refer to this walkthrough when needed.
How to troubleshoot iPad Pro that won’t play YouTube videos
Before troubleshooting, try to load a browser app then navigate to the main YouTube website. If the main site is experiencing the same symptoms, then that’s likely a server issue. In that case, there’s not much can be done on your end but wait until the YouTube server is back up and running smoothly again. And that should be quick. Otherwise, troubleshoot the app with these methods.
First solution: Quit the app then restart
While YouTube is tagged among the most robust mobile apps, the fact that it’s an online application makes it susceptible to random issues tied to network connectivity errors. When this happens, various symptoms could emerge and that would include failure to load some videos or sudden app crashes. Usually, minor symptoms are remedied by restarting the application. So here’s what you should try doing first:
- Swipe up from the bottom of the Home screen and then pause slightly in the middle of the screen.
- Then swipe right or left to navigate through the app previews.
- Swipe up on the YouTube app card/preview to close it.
After quitting the app, launch it again and see if you can now play YouTube videos. If not, then perform a soft reset on your iPad Pro with these steps:
- Press and hold the Side/Power button and either Volume buttons simultaneously for a few seconds.
- Release the buttons when the Slide to Power Off command appears and then drag the power off slider to the right.
- After 30 seconds, press and hold the Power/Side button again until the phone reboots.
Wait until the phone is finished restarting then retry loading YouTube app to see if the problem is gone. If it isn’t, then you need to troubleshoot further.
Second solution: Refresh your Internet connection
Random problems with the Internet connection that caused online apps like YouTube to stop working or act up are often resolved by refreshing the Internet connection. And this can be carried out in different ways. You can start with the Wi-Fi toggle on your iPad Pro. Here’s how it works:
- Navigate to Settings-> Wi-Fi menu, then toggle the Wi-Fi switch to turn OFF. After a few seconds, tap the switch to turn Wi-Fi back on again.
Alternatively, you can apply the Airplane mode trick., which works by disabling all wireless functions shortly and then enabling them back. Here’s how it’s done:
- Go to Settings-> Airplane Mode menu, then toggle the switch to turn Airplane Mode ON. Doing so will disable wireless radios including Wi-Fi connections. After a few seconds, tap the switch again to turn Airplane mode OFF.
The ultimate method is the so-called power cycle on the wireless router or modem in use. If you can access your wireless router or modem at the moment, then you can try this tweak. Here’s how it’s done:
- Find the Power or ON/OFF switch then press on it until the device powers down.
- While it’s turned off, unplug its AC adapter from the power source and keep it that way for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- After the elapse time, plug it back in and then turn it on again.
Wait until it re-established network signal. Then connect your iPad Pro to the Internet and try launching YouTube app.
Third solution: Reset network settings
If the previous methods didn’t work, then try ruling out network errors from your iPad Pro by performing a network settings reset. This will delete all your current network configurations including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections along with any erratic settings that caused conflict to the YouTube app. Here’s how to reset network settings on an iPad Pro:
- From your Home screen, tap on Settings.
- Select General.
- Scroll down to and then tap on Reset.
- Select the option to Reset network settings.
- If prompted, enter your passcode then follow the onscreen instructions to confirm network settings reset.
After the reset, the device will restart by itself. Wait until it boots up then set up and reconnect to your Wi-Fi network. Once your device is connected, re-launch the app and try if it’s already able to play YouTube videos.
Fourth solution: Update YouTube app
If you haven’t set your apps to auto-download updates, then you might have missed some critical updates for YouTube. As a result, the app has become prone to errors. To make sure this isn’t the underlying cause, try to check for and manually install pending updates for YouTube app on your iPad Pro with these steps:
- From the Home screen, tap App Store.
- From the App Store main screen, scroll down to the bottom and then tap on the Updates tab. A list of all apps with pending updates will then appear.
- Tap the Update button next to the YouTube app to install pending updates for YouTube.
- If multiple app updates are available, then you can just tap on the Update All button on the top-right of the screen. Doing so will install all app updates simultaneously.
Restart your iPad Pro after updating apps to make sure all new app changes are properly implemented and to refresh YouTube app as well.
Fifth solution: Uninstall then reinstall YouTube app on your iPad
The app itself might have become totally corrupted and is no longer functional. If that’s the case, then you will need to delete or uninstall the erratic application so that you can install the latest version from the App Store. Here’s what you should do then:
- From the Home screen, lightly touch and hold the YouTube app icon until it jiggles. Do not press too firmly to avoid opening the Quick Actions menu.
- Then tap on the X at the upper-left corner of the YouTube app.
- Tap Delete when prompted to confirm action.
Alternatively, you can uninstall the app from the iPad storage. Here’s how it’s done:
- Tap Settings from the Home screen.
- Scroll down the left menu then select General.
- Tap iPad Storage.
- Select YouTube from the list of apps.
- Tap the option to Delete App.
- If prompted, tap Delete App to confirm.
After deleting or uninstalling the app, restart the iPad and then head to the App Store to search for and download the latest version of YouTube app available.
Just follow the onscreen instructions to download and install the application on your iPad Pro. Once the app has been successfully installed, restart your device one more time and then launch the recently installed YouTube app. More often than not, app problems are rectified by this method. If it’s not, then you’re most likely dealing with other major issues either with the device firmware or YouTube server.
Seek more help
You may report the issue to YouTube Help – Google Support and ask further recommendations if none of the given solutions is able to get YouTube app back up and working properly on your iPad Pro. There might be some app settings that need to be modified for YouTube to play all videos as intended. If the problem occurs only to specific content or YouTube channel, then that could be just an isolated problem with that content or channel. You may contact the channel administrator if post the problem you encounter when attempting to view that video on the comments section. Or simply go to the YouTube page you’re having issue with then click the Send Feedback option at the bottom of the page. Add a description about the issue you’re experiencing and then click Submit.
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!