- YouTube’s new companion experience lets your phone automatically recognize what’s playing on your TV when both devices use the same account.
- You can use your phone to comment, subscribe, browse, search, and even scroll through Shorts without interrupting the video playing on your TV.
- You can also send videos from your phone directly to the TV, and the two devices don’t need to be on the same Wi-Fi network.
Watching YouTube on a TV is great, but interacting with anything on the screen is a different story. Maybe you want to leave a comment, subscribe to the channel, read the description, or figure out what to watch next. Suddenly, you’re pecking away at an on-screen keyboard with a TV remote, and the phone sitting comfortably in your hand starts looking like the much better option.
That’s exactly the problem YouTube is trying to solve with its latest update. The company is giving its TV and mobile apps a much tighter connection, effectively turning your phone into a companion for whatever is playing on the big screen. Better still, setup is minimal. Your phone and TV don’t even need to be on the same Wi-Fi network. As long as you’re signed into the same YouTube account on both devices, your phone can recognize what’s playing on the TV and automatically bring up a companion panel.
