In October 2022, YouTube conducted an experiment in which it asked some free users to upgrade to Premium-subscription for watching videos in 4K. But now the company has stopped this test – probably because of the outrage of users.

In a tweet, YouTube confirmed the end of the experiment:

“Viewers should now be able to access 4K resolution without Premium membership.”

So all users can now watch videos in the highest quality without paying for a subscription. This test was conducted by YouTube to understand the reaction when a certain feature was only available for the Premium level.

Google charges $9.99 per month for YouTube Music and $11.99 per month for YouTube Premium in the US — these prices vary in different countries around the world, in Ukraine they are still UAH 99/month for a regular subscription and UAH 149/month for a family subscription. The company claims to have more than 50 million Premium subscribers to both offerings worldwide.

YouTube is trying different ways to convert free users to paid accounts. Earlier this year, the service even experimented with showing users up to 11 unskippable ads before the start of a long video to ensure uninterrupted viewing. This test was short-lived and the company stopped it within a few days.

And in September it has been reported that YouTube does not listen much to the wishes of the users, as the dislike and disinterest buttons on the platform are almost non-functional. But automatic Ukrainian subtitles have already started working there.