Notably, Google has been testing a new and updated version of the YouTube app for regular Chromecast since the beginning of this year. Fast forward to now, the updated app is seeding for 3rd-gen Chromecast and Chromecast Ultra. As noted by 9to5Google, some users back in March this year, started seeing a new experience when casting YouTube from their phone. Some of them saw richer video players with more controls, allowing them to control resolution, closed captions, and the feature to add playlist or queue. This was applicable for users with streaming dongles running the original Cast platform. The most important change that the new YouTube experience brought was the new home screen. The generic splash screen on the Android TV app and other smart TV sets was replaced with the YouTube homescreen.
A built-in phone remote control is also added on the YouTube smartphone app
Moreover, the new YouTube homescreen came with a navigation bar on the left. It included functions such as Search, Home, News, Music, Gaming, Movies & Shows, Subscriptions, Library, and rows of videos. All these features could be controlled with the built-in phone remote control on the YouTube phone app. The phone remote includes a D-pad, a back button, and a voice search button. In order to access the phone remote control on the YouTube phone app, you need to tap on the cast button on the top. Here, the remote control button can be located underneath the volume slider, besides the voice search button. Do note that some physical TV remotes are also compatible with this YouTube remote control. This new YouTube homescreen and remote control feature was well appreciated by the users. Yet, it wasn’t widely available for everyone. Then in July, it was pushed for more users. Cut to now, the new YouTube app is widely available for Chromecast Ultra and 3rd-gen Chromecast, which was released back in 2017. Sadly, this new updated YouTube app isn’t arriving for older Chromecast models. Whatever the case may be, the feature looks sleek and gives much-needed usability controls while casting. Although it makes YouTube casting more comfortable, those without YouTube Premium subscriptions have to deal with more ads. So, in order to make this experience more enjoyable, there is an option to get yourself a premium subscription.
