YouTube is giving its TV app a much-needed redesign soon – here’s what it looks like

• Google has teased a redesign of the YouTube experience for TVs
• The update is coming “this summer” and includes improved navigation
• Google also announced a Multiview upgrade for YouTube TV subscribers

Twenty years ago today, the first video was uploaded to YouTube (the thrilling ‘Me at the zoo’). To celebrate that milestone, Google has announced that YouTube’s TV app experience is going to get a big upgrade soon. And as someone who watches a lot of big-screen YouTube, that’s something I’m very much looking forward to.

Google hasn’t revealed a lot about the “TV viewing upgrade” it has planned. It’s apparently coming “this summer” (which means sometime between June and September, if you’re in the southern hemisphere). But it has revealed a screenshot (below) of what it’ll look like, plus a few hints of what’s coming.

Apparently, we’re going to get “easier navigation” alongside some “quality tweaks” and an improved playback experience. There will also be “streamlined access to comments, channel info, and subscribing”. In other words, YouTube on your TV (not to be confused with YouTube TV) is going to become a lot more like the fully-featured browser experience.

Alongside the improved TV experience, YouTube TV subscribers will also gain the ability to build their own multiview experience. This four-way grid has traditionally been reserved for sports fans, but this is being opened up to non-sports content with a “small group of popular channels” in the “coming months”. So if you aren’t feeling quite distracted enough yet, this multiview update could be for you.

A subtle but important update

I’ve been watching YouTube on TV for years and it’s always felt a few steps behind the full experience. The Apple TV app, for example, was only given a comments section relatively recently – and while that might sound like a mixed blessing, I’ve always found comments to be an important part of the experience for the channels I follow.