YouTube for Android TV adds more Google Assistant commands, Podcasts page

Abner Li | May 22 2023 - 10:31 am PT

Besides the upcoming addition of unskippable and pause screen ads, the YouTube app on Android and Google TV in Q1 2023 gained support for more Assistant voice commands.

Existing Google Assistant voice commands already let you play/resume, pause/stop, fast-forward, rewind, go to the next/last video, restart a clip, and turn off closed captions on YouTube for Android TV.

You can now like/dislike a video and un/subscribe to channels with “Hey Google, like this video, dislike this video, subscribe, or unsubscribe.”

YouTube for TVs has also added the Podcasts topic that was first introduced on the web. It’s located in the More tab at first but “will move higher up in the menu if you more frequently watch Podcast content.” It includes various carousels like “Your new episodes” and “Your saved shows” from YouTube Music and the main service. There are also various recommendations, popular episodes, and various genres.

Meanwhile, YouTube is now surfacing Shorts content in search results, and Google has made the recommended shelf more responsive:

This means that as you scroll through the shelf, it’ll keep refreshing recommendations so that there’s new videos for you to choose from!

Lastly:

“You can more easily switch between accounts when watching YouTube on TV, thus making for easy family sharing! This way, everyone in a household can access YouTube from the same device, without having to sign-out and sign-in each time.”
“You can also use the account switcher to directly switch into your child’s profile in the YouTube Kids app on a smart TV, streaming device, or game console. Previously you had to navigate to the YouTube Kids app icon on your TV to launch the app, so we hope you find this new experience easier!”