The fourth-generation Apple TV 4K began arriving to customers and store shelves today, and iCulture reports that some users are having issues with the YouTube app not working.
YouTube is causing problems on the new Apple TV.
YouTube is available on virtually every streaming device these days: from smart TVs to game consoles. But supporting the new Apple TV is apparently too complicated for YouTube. Now that the new Apple TV is in stores , it appears that YouTube has not yet sorted out support for this device.
There is a solution. The fix is being applied automatically on the server side, so you don’t need to do anything. However, if you don’t want to wait for that fix, you can do the following:
- Make sure tvOS 27.2 is installed by going to “Settings” -> “System” -> “Software Updates.”
- If tvOS 27.2 is aready installed, restart the Apple TV by going to “Settings” -> “System” -> “Restart.”
- If all else fails, uninstall and reinstall the YouTube app.
iCulture previously reported a bit of weirdness while testing the new Apple TV 4k for a review:
We were already able to get started with the new Apple TV over the past two weeks (read our review here ). During our test, we continuously saw a red bar in the bottom left corner of the screen in the YouTube app, containing the following text:
You may use the YouTube app for device testing, but not for production purposes.
This bar was even visible while watching YouTube videos. We had hoped that YouTube would resolve this issue with the release of the new Apple TV, but the problem has only gotten worse. As of today, a notification appears in the YouTube app stating that the new Apple TV is not yet supported. Therefore, you cannot watch YouTube videos at all on the new Apple TV. The reason for this is unknown to us, and YouTube itself has not provided an explanation either. The linked page states that support is only offered up to the third-generation Apple TV 4K from 2022.
One theory for the issues behing the above problems is that the YouTube app does not yet recognize the new hardware identifier of the Apple TV, but that is simply a theory.
