If you use Brave on your iPhone to download YouTube videos for offline viewing, the last few weeks have likely been incredibly frustrating. Just as a wave of YouTube ads began aggressively bleeding through Brave’s legendary shields, the browser’s beloved Playlist feature went completely dark for iOS users. At the time, the change looked like the latest setback in an increasingly difficult battle between Brave and YouTube.
Now, there is finally some good news.
James Mudgett, Brave’s VP of iOS and Web3, has confirmed that the company has a hotfix in beta that will restore the broken Playlist behavior. Responding to affected users on X, he said: “We have a hotfix in beta that we plan to release in 1.91.1. ~1 week.”
Since the issue surfaced, users have reported that adding a YouTube video to a playlist now makes it appear instantly, but the video never actually downloads. It then fails to play offline, defeating one of Brave’s biggest advantages over YouTube Premium. Worse still, the long-standing workaround of switching YouTube into desktop mode has also stopped working, leaving many without any reliable solution.
When we first covered the issue, Brave explained that Apple had required it to remove offline playback capabilities from Playlist for the browser to remain on the App Store, and that it was appealing the decision. However, the upcoming Brave 1.91.1 hotfix appears intended to address this regression rather than the broader App Store dispute.
This incoming update is a vital lifeline for affected users. It tells us that despite YouTube’s increasingly sophisticated efforts to disrupt background streams and third-party media caching, Brave’s developers are moving fast to bypass the latest roadblocks.
While we wait for version 1.91.1 to clear Apple’s App Store review, the takeaway here is clear: don’t count the privacy browser out. YouTube will inevitably change its code again to protect its ad and Premium revenue, and Brave will scramble to counter it. It’s an exhausting cycle, but for now, a fix for your offline playlists is officially on the way.
Hillary Keverenge
2683 Posts
Tech has been my playground for over a decade. While the Android journey began early, it truly took flight with the revolutionary Lollipop update. Since then, it's been a parade of Android devices (with a sprinkle of iOS), culminating in a mostly happy marriage with Google's smart home ecosystem. Expect insightful articles and explorations of the ever-evolving world of Android and Google products coupled with occasional rants on the Nest smart home ecosystem.