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Why is the console Youtube Apps so garbage?

bman94

Member
I can't speak on the PS4 youtube app since I don't have one, but damn the Xbox One and Wii U Youtube apps are inexcusable. They freeze up constantly (especially the Wii U version which if you try to close the app when it freezes your whole console gets frozen), the connection is always shit, and the Xbox version constantly shows in the lowest resolution for me. Why can the Wii U Youtube app show videos in HD but the Xbox One version can't? I guess its a fair trade off since the Wii U youtube app routinely just says fuck it and stop playing the video with no warning. You would think they would have some sort of "select your video quality" option but no there is none. They are barebone apps that barely function and you would think by 2016, in the fourth year of the Wii U's life and the third year of the Xbox One's life that they would get the Youtube app to function like the desktop and mobile counterparts.
 
I use the PS4 app regularly and I think it's just fine. However, Netflix still is the GOAT of console apps that I know of. Everything about that app is so smooth.
 
Ps4 seems fine to me. They are barebones because you can just use your mobile to navigate and search. No real reason to try and optimize it since doing that is always going to be a better experience than trying to navigate using ur remote or controller.
 
Yeah, the Wii U one is bad, but it was much worse. I remember when it launched and you couldn't watch videos on the GamePad, or type via the screen. What the hell were they thinking with that?
 
The Xbox One app works great for me. If you're not getting HD resolutions it's due to your network. Are you connecting wirelessly or Ethernet? Have you disabled QoS on your router? The weak link isn't the app itself in this scenario.

I can't comment on the Wii U app as I haven't used it in years (the app, not Wii U).
 
The mobile apps are also garbage.
Right now in the subscriptions page the "p" doesn't completely disappear when you scroll down so there's a white line that shouldn't be there on the top of the screen. It also saves your spot...sometimes.
I've also wanted background play for a long time and they managed to do that...just to hold it hostage behind YouTube red
 
I really like the Xbox One app. And I know it's good because my wife, unprompted by me, said she loves it for casting videos from her phone and laptop.
 
The Xbox One app works great for me. If you're not getting HD resolutions it's due to your network. Are you connecting wirelessly or Ethernet? Have you disabled QoS on your router? The weak link isn't the app itself in this scenario.

I can't comment on the Wii U app as I haven't used it in years (the app, not Wii U).

I'm using my University's internet. The Wii U YouTube app gets HD all the time and I have no problems getting HD on my laptop. All connections are wireless. The Xbox One YouTube app has never been HD for me.
 
The truly damning bit about the Wii U app is that you get a far superior experience just going to youtube.com in the web browser.

Rather amusingly, the website has started putting up a banner when you do this trying to convince you to go back to the app.
 
PS3/4 apps work great for me.

I search on my phone and then add them to the playlist on the PS. Much easier that way and you don't have to interrupt the videos.
 
The truly damning bit about the Wii U app is that you get a far superior experience just going to youtube.com in the web browser.

Rather amusingly, YouTube has started putting up a banner when you do this trying to convince you to go back to the app.

Yep, using the Wii U web browser is the best way to go.

It's weird though, I used to be able to watch videos in HD, but lately I only get SD playback for some reason. I wonder if there's a fix for this.
 
The biggest issue is that it constantly needs to re-pair with my phone/tablet randomly. Why pair in the first place if every few weeks it makes me do it again?

Also OP, Xbox One does have HD on Youtube.
 
Yep, using the Wii U web browser is the best way to go.

It's weird though, I used to be able to watch videos in HD, but lately I only get SD playback for some reason. I wonder if there's a fix for this.

From my experience, you should be getting HD where available, but I don't know if connection speed impacts that at all.

Though, it does have the stupid non-MSE limitations* of only offering 360p and 720p for resolutions.

*
Thanks Google for looking out for me by removing options when I'm not using a browser with a bleeding edge feature set /s
 
PS4 and xbox apps are the same as far as I can tell. I haven't tried it on wiiu.

I use it on xbox regularly and never had a problem. I wish it was a bit snappier to navigate but otherwise its been solid. I don't use it on ps4 simply because the consoles wifi is garbage so I end up with quality drops or buffering.

even on my pc youtube has issues simply because it fails to stick with the html5 player and tries to use the flash version. It sucks because flash runs like garbage for some reason.
 
PS4 one is good, but holy shit the PS3 one was literally completely 100% unusable last I used it a few years ago, hopefully they've fixed that by now
 
If you are using the Youtube App for the Wii U you are doing it wrong. Delete that garbage and open the internet browser on the Home Menu, type in youtube.com and ENJOY.

You can watch videos in HD AND browse GAF in the gamepad, best experience of all time.
 
PS4 youtube is okay for me. I streamed Sony E3, TGS and PSX through the app without hiccup last year. Way better than my ageing laptop.

Searching could be improved tho.
 
Youtube on The wii u browser was amazing two years ago, you could skip ads, change settings etc. But somehow Google found out, so they managed to make it so you have to watch the ad now, and they constantly remind u to use those app on the browser site now :/ damb them
 
I was under the impression the youtube apps are just placeholders until html5. Is that right? Seems like alot of media features on the consoles are just hold-overs until the new standards hit
 
They all work pretty similar. To be honest my favorite YouTube app is the one on my Apple TV. I never have issues much with any they all look the same and feel the same except the Apple TV one. And it is my favorite it's so fast.
 
PS4 youtube seems to work fine. You just have weirdness dealing with live streams. Sometimes the stream won't start and it tries to load the next video and there is zero comment and chat support so far.
 
All of the apps on all of the home console and DVD players are abysmal and regularly out of date, and I don't understand it. I get stuttering on Funimation, I get failure to synch start/stop on Hulu, I get whatever the hell Youtube thinks I'm okay with on Youtube... It baffles me, these apps should not be this complicated, so much of it is server-side functions and HTML5-based application framework and yet the experience from console to console is subpar, different, and out of date compared to the mobile apps. (It depends on the service, but the web experience is rarely the inferior method.)

It'd be one thing if these were free services, but I pay for Hulu and would be willing to rent movies on Youtube (I know that nobody does, but it's to the point that their bitrate and speed is challenged by few video providers once you're in the 1080/4K range.) App quality was a nagging concern when the first Smart TVs launched and the first console apps, and for some reason, it has gotten no better despite the hardware coming closer than in the past.

I still run an HDMI out of my PC and futz around with a media remote because even though it's far from perfect, it's worth getting things exactly according to expectations whereas these apps constantly remind me of their failure points.
 
I believe Google develops the apps themselves. Blame them for putting out questionable quality software that needed a bit more fine-tuning.
 
Always seemed fine to me. Just use your phone as the remote and then you can click on videos in the app there and send them to the PS4/XB1.
 
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