Google shipped an update to its YouTube app that improves the experience on consoles like the Xbox Series X|S and Smart TVs. The latest version of the app includes new shelves that make it easier to find content and a dedicated podcasts tab.
My favorite change to the YouTube app for TVs is that Shorts and long-form videos are now separated in the Latest Videos section.
Since Shorts are vertically oriented, I don’t like viewing them on a TV. When I browse the Latest Videos section of YouTube on a console or Smart TV, I generally don’t want to see YouTube Shorts.
In contrast, many people often scroll through YouTube Shorts on TVs. With the latest update to the YouTube app, the experience is better for all of us.
Google shared the changelog for the update in a support document:
YouTube on TV app: What’s new
- New Shelves
- The “Continue your search” shelf shows you your top three searches, allowing you to jump back in right where you left off.
- The “Listen again” shelf is a dedicated music shelf that shows you the top songs you’ve previously searched for and listened to.
- The “Live performances, remixes, and covers” shelf shows you other versions of your favorite songs, beyond the official versions.
- The Primetime Channels shelf, for those subscribed, shows content from your most recently searched for and watched Primetime Channels.
- The “From your top channels” shelf shows you your top watched YouTube channels.
- Podcasts Tab: You can now seamlessly jump back into the podcasts you love directly from your library.
- Shorts Row in your Watch Next Feed & Shorts Shelf on your Subscriptions Tab: We’ve split out Shorts from long-form videos for a cleaner layout that makes it easier for you to find the content you’re looking for.
- Loop More Content: Previously, looping was only available on playlists, but now you can loop all VOD content. Just select the “Loop” setting from your Playback Settings menu.
- Improved Preview Experience:
- We’ve expanded inline previews to channel pages, subscription pages, and topics pages.
- We’ve officially finished our roll out of Immersive Channel Previews. These fullscreen background previews on channel headers make the page more immersive and provide fans with an easy entry point to watch.
The dedicated Podcasts Tab is another welcome addition, as is the option to loop all (Video on Demand) VOD content.
An update to the mobile and desktop versions of YouTube adds a “Device Type” Card that allows you to track watch time on different types of devices.