Youtube & 3G

[dgoakill]

Though I'm having this problem with my S4, I've had it with my Bionic as well. Youtube will not play on a 3G connection. Though I usually have excellent 4G coverage, on the train to and from work it usually gets lost and I only have 3g. While watching a youtube video, the second it kicks into 3g the video freezes and continually tries to load. this also happens when I'm tethering to my nexus 7. the second the connection drops to 3g youtube dies. WTF?

I know this is a bigger issue as I've found people with the same problem on at&t, sprint, & verizon. the only common settings in the phones are android and the youtube app. so it must be something with the app. but what? any work arounds?

 

[Sydman]

I remember when I had my Droid Razr Maxx for the first 8 months or so I had 4G off and used the YouTube app no problem. I am not sure if this is something recent, the next time I notice my phone drop from 4G I will try using it to see if it works.

 

[wcjeep]

Sounds like the video starts in HD, then drops to 3g and still attempting the same HD content. YouTube can also be cached while in 4g/wifi then watch the videos when network is slower.

 

[dgoakill]

Sounds like the video starts in HD, then drops to 3g and still attempting the same HD content. YouTube can also be cached while in 4g/wifi then watch the videos when network is slower.

thanks, I do have it set up that way. I change the HD to standard before I lose the 4g signal. I also have the videos set to "watch later" and I have them set to preload when connected to a wifi. Although they are set to preload on the Nexus 7 and not the phone, the S4 is really just being used for the data connection. The youtube app itself is running on the nexus 7. I have experienced this though on the phone as well.

this would be so much easier if youtube would allow you to just cache the whole file directly to your device. Vimeo videos work much better! but they don't have the same amount of content as youtube......


* I have never noticed a difference when having the youtube app to cache the videos.

*wondering if the problem is that the watch later feature is picking the HD versions, and cacheing them? Doesn't seem to be a way to tell it what quality to cache at.......and if you set it up on auto, it looks at the best settings for your desktop......hmmm