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The Best and Worst YouTube TV Features in 2025! Tips & Tricks
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Sep 17, 2024
I've been testing YouTube TV since it launched in 2017. In this video, I review the service's features and rank them from best to worst! ā See my YouTube TV tips and tricks guide: https://michaelsaves.com/streaming/change-youtube-tv-settings/ šØ Get the latest deals: https://michaelsavesdeals.com/ šŗ Compare live TV services: https://michaelsaves.com/streaming/best-live-tv-streaming/ š» Find a better internet plan: https://michaelsaves.com/internet-plan-comparison-tool/ QUICK LINKS: 0:00 Best: Multiview 1:34 Very Good: Playback Controls and More 2:44 Good: Live Guide Customization 4:01 Good: Home Screen Recommendations 5:35 Needs Work: Cloud DVR Flexibility 7:00 Needs Work: Family Sharing 7:32 Worst: 4K Plus Add-On 8:13 Michael's Final Thought Start your regular Amazon shopping with my link to support the channel: https://www.amazon.com/shop/michaelsaves NOTE: This description box includes an affiliate link. If you use my link, I may receive a small commission. It helps offset the 80% decline in YouTube revenue my channel has experienced since November 2022.
View Video Transcript
0:00
I know a lot of people have been testing
0:01
out YouTube TV lately so today I'm
0:04
sharing the YouTube TV features that you
0:07
need to know about and I'm ranking them
0:09
from best to worst let's get started
0:11
YouTube TV's multi view it lets you
0:14
watch up to four channels on a single
0:16
screen I call it Sports Bar mode there
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are multi- views for news and weather
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but really this is mostly for sports
0:24
fans the service has gradually improved
0:26
multi view and that's since it launched
0:28
in 2023 but it does not offer complete
0:32
customization now there's a reason for
0:34
this and YouTube TV says it's because
0:37
most devices do not have the hardware to
0:39
support multi view instead the service
0:42
has an entire team you see them in this
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picture and their job is to make sure
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that multiv view includes the best
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combos of pre-selected streams now you
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can find multiv view in a few places
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throughout the app including right here
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that's on the home screen and when you
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select a game to to watch there's going
1:00
to be this build a multi view option
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when there's a lot of games going on at
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the same time you may have to do a
1:07
little bit of scrolling but usually
1:09
you're going to find the combination
1:11
that you want look multi view it's not
1:13
perfect and I know a lot of people want
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that ability to pick their own channels
1:19
rather than relying on these
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pre-selected streams but for now the
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only live TV streaming service that
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offers a fully customizable multiv view
1:28
is fubo TV and with that service it is
1:31
limited to Apple TV devices this next
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section includes four features I'd rank
1:36
them all as very good first playback
1:39
controls when you're watching live TV
1:42
click down once on your remote and then
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you're going to see information about
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the program that you're watching as well
1:48
as the timeline I know this doesn't look
1:50
all that impressive but I've highlighted
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playback controls because the rewind
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fast forward and pause with YouTube TV
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they work very smoothly especially when
1:59
you're trying to forward through ads and
2:01
second for sports fans key plays will
2:03
get you caught up on Highlights if
2:05
you're joining a game in progress I like
2:07
this feature a lot and there are also
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options to see sport stats and scores
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right on your TV set you don't have to
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leave the app third YouTube TV gives you
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the ability to reduce the broadcast TV
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delay so you're going to be able to
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stream closer to real time to find this
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setting click down while watching TV and
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select the more menu that's the one with
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the three dots the fourth feature that
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I'm ranking as very good the last
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Channel shortcut you can now press and
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hold okay or select on your remote
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that's going to take you right back to
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the channel you were last watching now I
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want to talk about the live guide and
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overall YouTube TV does a pretty good
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job with this feature I do think there's
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some room for improvement and I say that
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mostly because some additional
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customization could really go a long way
2:57
this is what the live guide looks like
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from a t TV set it's going to appear
3:01
differently when you're on a computer or
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a mobile device I'm going to start this
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section off with a few questions that I
3:07
get from users can you customize or
3:10
remove the on now section at the top of
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the screen the answer is no can you
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increase the font size of the main live
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guide again no and can you easily Jump
3:21
Ahead to a different day in the live
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guide unfortunately no again YouTube TV
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does let you customize your live guide
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to Only See the channels that you watch
3:31
this is one of my favorite features but
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it isn't higher up on my list and that's
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for one reason since it's launch the
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service has allowed you to customize
3:40
your live guide from a computer or a
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mobile device but not directly from a TV
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set now I know a lot of people have
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their phone in their hand while watching
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TV so this isn't exactly a big
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inconvenience but other services do let
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you customize the live guide from a TV
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set who knows maybe they'll make that
4:00
possible someday next I want to talk
4:02
about home screen recommendations and
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services like YouTube TV are using their
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algorithms and your watch History to
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recommend content one example it's the
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top picks for you section now I mostly
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hear complaints from users about this
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section because they feel these
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recommendations just aren't relevant in
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that case your options from a TV set are
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limited but you do have options watch
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here from a computer or the YouTube TV
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mobile app app you can select the three
4:31
dotts next to a program and then don't
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show me this deleting search and watch
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History that's another option but only
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if your recommendations are totally off
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I've got instructions on how to do this
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find those linked below but know that
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your YouTube TV history is mixed in with
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regular YouTube and that can make it
4:51
difficult to find the content that you
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want to delete from your history there's
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also the option to pause search and
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watch history but I don't recommend this
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either because it can cause issues
5:02
throughout the app particularly with the
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DVR back to the home screen and two
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propose changes that viewers tell me
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they'd really like to see first an
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option to bypass the home screen at
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launch and instead go directly to the
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live guide or to the last Channel you
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were watching and second wouldn't it be
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nice if users could lock the top picks
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for you section to display their
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favorite channels instead of
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recommendations
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not Everyone likes those recommendations
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this would just provide some additional
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flexibility of all the changes I've laid
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out so far in this video this is the one
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I hear about most from my viewers
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there's a lot to like about the DVR it
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includes unlimited storage and your
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recordings can be saved for up to 9
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months but what people don't like is the
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All or Nothing nature of the DVR let me
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give you an example when you set a
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recording with YouTube TV it'll record
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all current and upcoming episodes no
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option to record only new episodes or
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even a single episode likewise when you
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go to the library you will not see any
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option to delete only a single episode
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when you're recording a series now I
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can't change this feature but I can
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offer a suggestion if your library is
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getting cluttered with shows and movies
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that you've already watched there is
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this Mark as watch setting and it's
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available from a computer or a mobile
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device when you're on a computer head to
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the library and find the program that
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you want to Mark as watched then click
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the three dots and select that option
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from a mobile device there are no three
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dots instead you're going to long press
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and then see that Mark as watched option
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back to the library and I do think
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there's a good chance that YouTube TV
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will eventually change how it handles
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recordings and that's based on the
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volume of feedback also since most of
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its competitors do let you record and
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delete s episodes I've got a quick word
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about family sharing before I get to the
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worst feature on my list with YouTube TV
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you get up to six accounts per household
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everyone gets their own profile and
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that's great because you have your own
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DVR and recommendations so why is this
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so far down on my list I know it doesn't
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affect everyone but I think the parental
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controls could use some work and to be
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more specific I think they need to add a
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pin option the way it is now I think you
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can only filter content by TV ratings
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I've made it to the worst YouTube TV
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feature and that's the 4K plus add-on
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now hear me out I don't have a problem
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with 4K but I do have a problem with
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services that charge extra for 4K
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especially when their content is limited
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and very little of the services
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programming even Sports is available in
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4k the 4K plus add-on has a couple other
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features like unlimited streams at home
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and the ability to download recordings
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to your phone but I still think it's not
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worth the extra fee at least not for
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most households and keep in mind several
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of YouTube TV's competitors that offer
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4K they include it in the base plan no
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upcharge despite everything I've said in
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this video I still consider YouTube TV's
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features and the overall user experience
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to be right at the top among live TV
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services and I've tested them all if
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you'd like to see a change to a YouTube
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TV feature I'll link below to one of my
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free tutorials where I explain how you
8:31
can send feedback directly to the
8:33
service if you found this video helpful
8:35
please give it a like and support the
8:37
channel by visiting Michael saves
8:39
deals.com my name is Michael and I thank
8:42
you for watching