YouTube TV is finally launching an app that will make its live TV streaming service available directly on TVs via streaming devices. The YouTube TV app is available for smart TVs, gaming consoles and even streaming devices. As you may already know, you could enjoy YouTube TV on your smartphone, desktop, or through casting. However, until now, the company didn’t release an app that would make YouTube TV available on television.
Google announced on its blog that in a few days, the YouTube TV app will be launched for Android TV, which also includes NVIDIA Shield, but also for TVs that have Android TV built in. The YouTube app will also be available on all Xbox One consoles.
If you use an Apple TV, Samsung TV, or Sony TV, don’t worry. The YouTube TV app will add support for those devices in a few weeks. It is still unclear when the YouTube TV app will launch for other TV platforms such as Roku and Fire TV, especially because of the ongoing conflict between Google and Amazon right now.
Mobile counterpart
The YouTube TV app for TV platforms doesn’t look too different from the original YouTube TV for phones, desktops and streaming devices. Still, there are some noticeable differences. If you used the YouTube TV app on your smartphone, you know it features the same three main tabs: Home, Live and Library. What makes the TV app different is a dark background instead of the white one for the mobile version. The YouTube TV app for TV also includes a Live guide that will inform you about what is to begin airing soon.
The guide looks similar to a cable TV guide. For example, both display rows of the channels. The new YouTube TV app allows you to pull up the player controls and navigate to your Home, Live and Library tabs without having the video that’s currently playing turn off. Instead, it will play in the background for you to watch when you finish changing settings or checking what else is airing at the moment. The app also boasts an innovative feature which allows you to continue where you left off in videos.
It was hardly expected that YouTube would release an app that would connect to the TV screen at the moment. The younger population rather enjoys watching videos on their smartphones, tablets, laptops and other gadgets rather than using a big TV screen. This way, YouTube can spread its network even to the older demographics by connecting with traditional pay TV.
Although YouTube TV isn’t available across the whole U.S. at the moment, you can still go to tv.youtube.com to check whether your city and state are on the list, and if so, you can opt to start a free trial.
What do you think about the YouTube TV app? Let us know in the comments.
