The YouTube Experience on TVs and Game Consoles Will Get Much Better
Although YouTube has emerged on computers and mobile devices, it is also one of the most used apps on TVs and game consoles. People are using the service to watch game streams, video walkthroughs, and even YouTube shorts on their much larger screens—and the experience is about to get even better. As part of the Q2 2025 update, Google has added a number of new features to YouTube for TV that should arrive with an update to the app.
New features in the YouTube app for smart TVs
In an effort to increase the number of short videos on YouTube everywhere, Google is now making short videos more prominent on TVs as well. The company has added a new line for Shorts to the Watch Next feed and to the Shorts Shelf in the Subscriptions tab. This increases the visibility of short videos and has the added benefit of separating these videos from long-form content.
Meanwhile, YouTube for TV now lets you loop any video. This option has been added to playback settings. Previously, you could only loop playlists through the mobile app. There’s also a new tab for podcasts that allows you to find and play those videos much faster.
Sort by “shelves”
With this update, Google has put a lot of emphasis on creating shelves that will make it easier to find different types of videos. This includes a Continue Search feature that allows you to see your top three searches and find the video you were looking for. (This feature can also be useful for finding creators you watch often but don’t want to subscribe to yet.) Another shelf is called “From Your Top Channels” and shows videos from the creators you watch most often.
There are several new shelves dedicated to music, including “Listen Again” for music you play often, and “Live Performances, Remixes and Covers” to help you find alternative versions of your favorite music. The last new shelf is called “Primetime Channels” and directs you to content from channels you’ve purchased from YouTube.
The video streaming service said it has also completed the rollout of Immersive Channel Previews, which allows creators to add a personal touch to their channels by placing full-screen background previews in their channel headers. Creators will also be able to consider TVs as a device type in channel analytics, allowing them to more effectively track where people are watching their videos.