Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only. Downloading and sideloading modified IPAs violates YouTube's Terms of Service and may compromise your Apple ID security. Proceed at your own risk.
In the stock app, you have "Auto," "144p" up to "2160p." In this mod, you will see a new toggle: youtube+ipa+for+ios+1034+extra+quality
The search for an "IPA"—the file format for iOS applications—indicates a move toward sideloading. When the App Store no longer serves a compatible version of a program, users turn to archived IPA files. The term "extra quality" in the search string often points toward modified versions of the app, such as YouTube++ or Cercube. These versions are sought after not just for compatibility, but for features that the original legacy app lacked, such as ad-blocking, background playback, or high-definition video forcing, which helps squeeze every bit of utility out of the aging Retina displays. Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only
To get YouTube working, you must sideload or install a specific legacy version. The most reliable versions for iOS 10 generally fall between and v14.x . In the stock app, you have "Auto," "144p" up to "2160p
You can find a comprehensive collection of YouTube IPAs on Internet Archive , including version 10.33.11688 , which is historically compatible with iOS 10.
Many legacy IPAs suffer from "infinite loading" or playback errors. Disabling the VP9 codec often solves this , as older hardware struggles with newer decoding formats.