YouTube today announces an exciting new feature, which could prove to be very useful for those who have a YouTube app on their TV.
Before, to use your phone to control that app, you had to follow the Cast route, and it was clunky. Also, while it worked when you found a video on your phone and wanted to see it on your TV, you can’t automatically get the details about the video currently playing on the TV on your phone, unless you’re streaming it.
Here’s what changes. Starting today, the new feature allows you to easily connect your TV’s YouTube app to your iPhone or Android phone’s YouTube app, no need to stream anymore. It’s also a full sync, so you’ll always have the details about the video playing on your TV in your phone’s YouTube app.
Here’s how it works. Launch the YouTube app on your TV, then open the YouTube app on your phone. By the way, they must both be registered in the same account. Once you open the phone app, you will see an automatic message appear and all you have to do is press Connect. Once done, the two apps are connected and always in sync with each other.
So you can use your phone keypad to search for things to watch on TV, or you can comment on a video you are watching on TV on your phone, or you can check the description on your phone of a video I am watching on TV. It’s complicated to explain in the text, but it should make immediate intuitive sense once you get the new functionality, and it’s likely going to be one we’ll all be wondering how we could ever live without.
As with everything Google, the launch may take some time. It’s unclear if it’s going to be a server-side rollout or if you’ll need to get an update for the YouTube app on your phone, but regardless, you should have this new feature soon. And YouTube is already working on other things related to interactivity in the living room as well. For example, it is testing new designs for the video watch page “to help include more YouTube exclusive features, such as browsing and purchasing products featured in the videos”, this is what is shown in the image above.
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