The YouTube TV mobile has gotten a design update that makes the mobile app look more like the YouTube TV app on TVs. While it looks good, there is one feature update that could be an inconvenience to viewers – the channel preview on the live TV guide.
In an update spotted by Android Authority, the live TV guide of the mobile app has gotten a new look. Channel logos are now on the left side of the guide and program titles are now in their own bubbles, making it easier to see what’s airing on which channel and when the program ends. Those are welcome changes for users who can now finally see upcoming content on every channel, rather than just what’s currently airing.
The issue is at the top of that guide, with the preview feature. Before the update, users would see a preview for the top channel on the guide that would play automatically. Now, to watch a preview, a user needs to long-press on a channel to pull up that channel’s information, including the channel description, show information, and the channel preview. As Android Authority points out, it now takes just as long to pull up the preview as it does to just open the channel and start watching live, defeating the purpose of offering a preview at all.
For users who don’t care about previewing a show before navigating to a channel, this won’t matter at all. Getting rid of the preview that took up about a third of the screen could actually be a good thing. But for those who liked being able to preview content, the few extra clicks will take some getting used to.
This looks like a server-side update, so not all users are seeing the redesigned live guide yet, even after the 9.47.0 update from a few days ago.