YouTube released a new feature to fix the main problem with various TV Boxes and Android TVs currently available, namely limited remote capabilities.
"It's very difficult to type on a TV using the remote. Every remote is uncomfortable, every remote is different, and there are a million different buttons. It's all bad," said Brynn Evans, head of design for YouTube on TV.
To fix that problem, YouTube released a new feature that connects phones to Android-based TVs, for both Android and iOS phone users. This is how it works, when the user opens the app on Android TV, and opens the YouTube app on the phone, a message will appear offering to connect the phone to the TV.
If the user presses "Connect", then the phone will become a "pair" for the application that is currently open on the TV. Users can leave comments on videos, add videos to playlists, and so on.
And interestingly, this feature can still work even if the TV doesn't have the Cast feature or uses a different WiFi network. Even the feature can still work if the phone is not on a WiFi network.
Improving the user experience on TV is important to YouTube. For years YouTube has said that TV is the platform with the fastest growing users. However, they feel that users on TV cannot enjoy the same experience as on mobile phones.
But connecting the TV with this phone is only the first step. According to Evans, they will then look for ways to continuously improve the user experience on TV. For example, looking for ways to change the commenting system to make it more convenient for TV users.