YouTube for TV is about to get more annoying
YouTubeis available on screens big and small, and its appsonly recently received a significant facelift. YouTube for TVs isn’t done with just that new look, though. The company turned the static splash screen into an animated one, complete with a new startup sound. While at it, YouTube is also experimenting with showing comments on the big screen.
The animation and sound that come up when you launch the TV app is part of a new branding initiative that is meant to make YouTube instantly recognizable among the plethora of streaming services on your TV. The sound and animation are supposed to make clear to you instantly that you’re watching YouTube, whether you’re facing the TV or not. The approach here isn’t too different from Netflix, which uses its memorable chime and logo animation both when you start its TV app and when you watch some of the platform’s original content.
To create the new animation and chime, Google worked with two different companies: Antfood, a sonic branding studio, and Buck, another creative company focused on branding. YouTube has a lot to say about what exactly the meaning behind all parts of this three-second splash screen is, which you canread about in the company’s blog post. Overall, the company achieved its goal, and it’s pretty satisfactory to watch and listen to the quick intro. If you’re someone who just wants to jump into YouTube quickly, all this could still seem superficial and over the top, though.
At the same time, the company appears to be working on bringing comments to YouTube for TV. Asspotted by a Redditor, the comments appear in a sidebar to the right of the video. Since the Redditor obfuscated big parts of the interface, it’s not entirely clear how much you will be able to interact with other comments or if it will be possible to add comments of your own from the TV. Given that most people don’t have a keyboard tethered to their television, it’s unlikely that YouTube would allow for this due to the poor user experience it would offer.
On the Reddit post itself, the reaction is divided. Some people are happy that they no longer have to grab their phones or computer to see comments on a video they’re watching on the big screen, while others who don’t like interacting with the YouTube community would rather have comments stay off their TV screens entirely. Since you’ll likely have to pull up the comments explicitly, this might not ever be a problem for these folks, though.
YouTube for TV is getting a lot of attention from the company recently. Only a few weeks ago, YouTube brought itsTikTok competitor Shorts to the big screen, complete with a dedicated interface that makes the best use of the wider and bigger display that a TV offers you when displaying vertical videos.
Thanks: Mishaal Rahman
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