YouTube TV update prioritizes shorts, and users don't like it

Recent YouTube app updates for TVs, consoles, and streaming devices (e.g., Android TV, Apple TV) have aggressively prioritized Shorts, placing them prominently on homepages and in search results, which has frustrated users seeking a traditional long-form browsing experience. This shift limits user control and forces short-form content into navigation, leading to negative feedback regarding user experience.

Youtube Shorts TV app news

YouTube is changing the way how its app for TVs and consoles display videos on your homepage. The streaming service has opted to place Shorts instead of content from your subscriptions.

This change, which had initially been announced a month ago, removes Shorts from your subscription feed. But bizarrely, it displays those videos right at the top of the subscriptions feed. Short videos have been rising in popularity across various services, especially on mobile devices, for the past few years. But this short-form style has also drawn criticism for their nature to promote trendy content. Such videos have mockingly been termed "brain rot" by the internet, as the vast majority of shorts usually offer lower quality content, than a traditional video would offer.

Naturally, users are displeased with the change made to YouTube for TV. Several people have criticized the way that Shorts are promoted, with many pointing out that it is difficult to navigate, i.e. you have to scroll down the feed to see regular videos. There have also been complaints about the fact that Shorts, due to their portrait-orientation, are better suited for smartphones, than on large screen devices like TVs.

There are no options to configure, meaning users cannot turn off the Shorts, or reorder how the videos appear on their feed. YouTube for TV does not have an option to switch to the old layout, which adds to the frustration of users. This change could also affect content creators on YouTube negatively, if users cannot access their videos from the subscriptions tab easily, it could impact their view count, comments, and overall engagement with their channel.

The new YouTube layout is rolling out to TVs, consoles, Google TV, Apple TV, etc. Android TV users may want to consider using SmartTubeNext, an open source YouTube client that can play videos without ads.