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How to fix Samsung Galaxy A7 that won’t play YouTube videos [Troubleshooting Guide]

ByGrace November 6, 2019August 31, 2023 August 31, 2023

Aside from social media apps, more and more people are now becoming fond of watching YouTube videos on either smartphones or tablets running on iOS or Android platforms. The fact that YouTube videos are free and somehow unlimited, many would have preferred to go for online for free video streaming than pay extra bucks for premium video channel subscriptions on televisions. For as long as your device is connected to the Internet, you should be able to watch any videos from your favorite vlogs or YouTube channels. But just like any other apps, the YouTube app for Android is not perfect. While the app is programmed to become as stable and robust as possible, there are some factors that can cause conflicts and thereby trigger YouTube app to become erratic. What are these factors and how to deal with them when they strike and barge in to your supposedly all fun YouTube video streaming? To find out the answers to these queries, I encourage you to keep reading.

The main problem addressed in this post is on YouTube videos that won’t play on Samsung Galaxy A7. If you happen to encounter a similar issue on the same Samsung device, then this post is for you. So let’s get started.

Before we move on to our troubleshooting, if you are looking for a solution to a different issue, make sure you drop by our Galaxy A7 troubleshooting page as we’ve already addressed some of the most common problems reported by our readers. Find issues that are similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If you still need our help after that, then feel free to contact us by filling up our Android issues questionnaire.

What’s preventing YouTube app from playing videos on your Samsung Galaxy A7?

YouTube video

The problem you are dealing with is apparently software-related unless all of your apps are not working after having your phone exposed to liquid or dropped it in the pool.

Based on prior reports, problems like this are inflicted by faulty updates either for YouTube app or Android OS. There are also other cases where YouTube suddenly stopped working as intended due to memory problems like when the device is running low on internal memory. It can also happen if the network is unstable or not working at all. An outdated Flash Player is also a possible reason as to why your device won’t play YouTube videos correctly. Corrupted cache and cookies on the browser, app or system partition can likewise cause the same problem to occur on your device.

Recommended Fixes and Workarounds to fix YouTube app problems and errors

The following are recommended workarounds and standard procedures that are used to deal with different apps problems like YouTube errors on Android devices including your Samsung Galaxy A7. Given that these are only generic solutions, some of these methods may not work or bring positive outcome in your case. If possible, try to isolate the problem and determine the underlying cause like what happened before YouTube videos stopped playing on your device. For example, did it happen after making some changes to your phone settings or right after installing a new update, app or content. But if that’s not possible, then you have no option but to go for a trial-and-error approach in troubleshooting software problem on your Galaxy A7 that might have caused the YouTube app to suddenly misbehave.

First solution: Restart your phone (soft reset).

The first recommended solution to deal with minor software glitches in mobile devices is a restart or soft reset. If this is the first time you encounter problems on playing YouTube videos through the app, then don’t forget to perform a soft reset. Here’s how:

Press and hold the Power button for a few seconds.
Then tap Power off option from the menu.
Tap OK to confirm.
Wait for about 30 seconds then press and hold down the Power button again until your phone boots up.

In the case where YouTube suddenly stops playing videos, gets stuck or freezing, you can do a forced restart on your Galaxy A7 instead. A forced restart works the same and offers the same benefits as with the soft reset. The only difference is how it’s carried out. For starters, here’s how to do a forced restart on your Galaxy A7 and fix YouTube app problems without affecting any of your significant data on the phone:

Press and hold the Volume Down and Power buttons simultaneously for about 10 to 20 seconds then release both buttons when the phone restarts.

After restarting your phone, try to open YouTube app then see if it’s now able to play videos and work properly as it should. If the problem continues, try to force YouTube app to stop then restart your phone again.

To force close an app on your Galaxy A7, go to Apps-> Settings-> Applications-> Application manager, then tap to select YouTube app from the list. Finally, tap the Force Stop button.

Restart your device afterwards then try to launch YouTube app and play videos as you normally do.

Second solution: Verify and configure date and time settings, if needed.

Incorrect date and time settings can cause a lot of problems on Android devices. To rule this out from the possible triggers, check and ensure that the date and time settings on your phone are correct. If necessary, change it manually.

To change the date and time settings on your Galaxy A7, navigate to Settings-> General-> Date & Time. You can manually set the time zone for your device or sync it on your network operator/carrier. To manually set the date and time, tap Set Time then enter the correct date and time.

After making changes to your date and time settings, restart your device then try to play YouTube videos again to see if it’s now working as intended.

Third solution: Check and manage internal memory on your phone.

To rule insufficient memory out from the probable causes, verify and ensure that your device has ample of storage space left to allocate new processes.

To do so, navigate to Settings-> More-> Application Manager, then swipe from the right to left so view Running Apps. Scroll to the bottom to view details on how much memory is used and how much is available.

If the available memory is below 10 percent, then that’s likely the underlying cause. This is where memory management is necessary. Remove all unwanted apps and contents from your device to free up some space.

Fourth solution: Check your Internet connection.

An active and stable Internet connection is required for you to play YouTube videos on your phone unless you’ve downloaded the actual link of the video file on your device for offline viewing. If you couldn’t play videos straight from YouTube and prompted with errors pertaining to network unavailability, try to check your Internet connection and make sure it’s working. If not, then you will need to deal with network or connectivity issues first and once you’ve fixed that, you won’t be having any more problems when playing YouTube videos on your phone.

Fifth solution: Update to or download the latest version of Adobe Flash Player on your phone.

Another required tool for playing YouTube videos on your phone browser app is Adobe Flash player. If the browser you are using has outdated flash player, it won’t be able to play YouTube videos correctly. To fix this, you will need to uninstall your current flash player then reinstall the latest flash player version available. Adobe Flash Player can be downloaded through their website. Just click on the Download and Install button then follow the rest of the onscreen instructions to download the latest version of Adobe Flash Player on your Galaxy A7.

Sixth solution: Uninstall then reinstall YouTube app on your Galaxy A7.

If the previous workarounds failed to fix the problem, then you can uninstall the YouTube app then reinstall it on your phone. Doing so will rectify any errors or glitches that might have caused the app to crash and become erratic thus giving the app a clean start.

To do so, navigate to Apps-> Settings-> Applications-> Application Manager-> select YouTube app and then tap the Uninstall button.

Wait until YouTube app has been completely removed then restart your phone. After the restart, head over to the Play Store then download the app again.

What if the problem persists?

If you still couldn’t get your YouTube app to play videos or work properly on your device, then you may consider resorting to factory reset. This however can be a tedious process especially if you already have stored a lot of files on your device. Note that you will need to back up your data beforehand as they will all be wiped out from the reset process. The more files to back up, the longer it would take for a system reset to get finished. Besides, you will also need to set up your device from scratch afterwards. On the positive note, a factory reset will most likely be able fix the problem especially if it’s triggered by some bugs dwelling in the system registry. Any bugs will be wiped out during the reset along with all your phone data, thus giving your device a clean fresh start.

Any other options than a factory reset?

Your other option aside from a full system reset is to contact Samsung Support. If the problem started after installing a new update to YouTube app, then contact the app developer and escalate the problem for further assistance and recommendations. There may be some settings within the app that needs to be reconfigured after implementing the most recent update and only the app’s developer is able to help you out.

Meanwhile if YouTube videos stopped playing or the YouTube app itself has stopped working after installing a new firmware update to Android, the right department to reach out to is Samsung Support or your carrier’s customer care. In this case, the problem can be due to some bugs contained in the new software update, which needs to be addressed by an official fix patch that usually rolled out by Samsung in the next update.

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