Problem is a video sharing platform is much more storage intensive than a link or text sharing/aggregation platform

because in fact, it was something they did to extend the life of the device

The fact is that is what apple says is the reason. Maybe they are trying to influence the user into buying new hardware by making the phone seem more sluggish.

How will we able to choose whether we want to give access to the data when we do not own the data in the first place(atleast with how data works now)