YouTube abandons experiment limiting 4K playback to Premium users only

YouTube experimented with limiting access to 4K content to its Premium users, but the company confirmed this trial is now over and “turned off”. The platform revealed on Twitter everyone should be able to access 4K quality without any restrictions and no fancy memberships.

we've fully turned off this experiment. viewers should now be able to access 4K quality resolutions without Premium membership. we're here if you have other q's

— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) October 17, 2022

Reports about users seeing “Premium” next to the 2160p toggle in their YouTube app surfaced last month. Only a handful of users reported it, suggesting it was merely A/B testing by the company.

It is unclear what the results of the experiment were, but it's good that YouTube decided to pull back and cancel the it. A tweet in Japanese from earlier this month did reveal YouTube is looking for feedback on the feature, meaning it is not yet fully abandoned, though.

Source 1 • Source 2 (in Japanese)