- YouTube has announced a major update to its video-viewing experience on smart TVs.
- The integration feature that uses a smartphone as a companion tool when watching YouTube on a smart TV has been enhanced, allowing users to smoothly perform various operations and engagement actions from their smartphones without interrupting the video playback on the smart TV.
- It now newly supports multitasking operations, such as browsing YouTube Shorts or searching for the next video to watch on the smartphone’s YouTube app while continuing to play YouTube videos on the smart TV.
On Tuesday, September 1, 2026, Google’s video service “YouTube” announced a major update to its video-viewing features on smart TVs.
In this major update for watching YouTube on smart TVs, the integration features that use a smartphone as a companion tool have been enhanced. Users can now seamlessly perform various operations and interactions from their smartphones without interrupting the YouTube video playback on the smart TV.
First, as part of this major update, as long as both the smartphone and the smart TV are logged in with the same Google account, the smartphone will automatically recognize the YouTube video playing on the smart TV and display a companion panel to manage playback. This eliminates the hassle of connecting the smartphone and smart TV to the same Wi-Fi network or performing manual pairing.
This companion panel can be brought up at any time by tapping the device icon at the top of the YouTube app on your smartphone. This makes it much easier to check video descriptions, post comments, leave likes, and subscribe to channels on your smartphone while watching YouTube videos on your smart TV.
In addition, the update newly supports multitasking operations, allowing users to browse YouTube Shorts or search for the next video they want to watch on the smartphone’s YouTube app while a YouTube video continues playing on the smart TV. Furthermore, by selecting “Play on TV” from the menu button of a video displayed in the home feed of the smartphone’s YouTube app, users can instantly cast the video on their phone to the smart TV and start playback.
This major update to YouTube’s smart TV viewing features reportedly was developed in response to user feedback. While the demand for watching YouTube on smart TVs has been growing, users previously found it difficult to check video descriptions, post comments, leave likes, and subscribe to channels on the TV screen.
Source: Google (https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/463959026/use-your-phone-as-a-companion-for-watching-youtube-on-tv)