By "download feature", do you mean download into private storage of the Youtube app of a smart phone (so that the video can be viewed when the phone is not connected) or do you mean download a video file that can be played in the player of the user's choice?

(I'm asking because I've never been a paying user of Youtube.)

This is fair, and yes it's 100% "download into an encrypted area on a closed platform device and self-destruct for no reason after 30 days," not "download it so that you have the video and can reliably play it offline or re-encode into a different format."

YouTube itself is the lamest entity to be wasting time fighting youtube-dl because I doubt most creators want that protection. I can see why say, NBC.com or whoever doesn't want to be sued by the content owners for letting people download a show. But YouTube? The site that shows videos to anyone without a subscription? Interesting choice of where to focus your attention, Google.

The former

More like a "download into Google video locker that can only be played with the Youtube app, can't easily be format-shifted/clipped/transcoded/etc. and tracks you whenever you play it," right?

So much effort that downgrades the experience for paying users.

I imagine Tivo-style ad-skipping isn't a feature either.

The bigger problem is the way they use that as an avenue to sell you more shit and "learn" more deeply about you. Hard pass. Let people watch what they want and stop trying to build a profile, maybe then they'll consider paying you. As it stands, there's just no prayer of doing that if you're linking your credit card to all that.

Though I never have used Youtube premium, Louis Rossmann talks a lot about this. If I remember correctly it was something about not actually getting a file when downloading, instead having something you're forced to watch in the app and something not working right without internet access/location restrictions.

They also charge for picture-in-picture mode on your $1k phone that you bought from them.

And archivists. And people who prefer a different video player app or unsupported device.

They already sent me the fucking content when I watch it. Having a download button that just saves it to my disk means they save money delivering it to me if I watch a second time.