I have been a YouTube TV subscriber since I moved to the US in early 2017. Although I have tried other streaming and cable services, I always come back to YouTube TV as my preferred streaming platform. I love YouTube TV for many reasons, including unlimited DVR and the best algorithm for viewing content.
Still, not all features are created equal. You’ll want to tweak certain features and settings to improve your experience and get the most out of your favorite streaming devices. Here are my tips from one of YouTube TV’s early subscribers to get the most out of Google’s TV streaming service.
Add every single show to your library
Make the most of this unlimited DVR
There’s a secret to YouTube TV’s incredible content-matching algorithm. You have to feed it as much information as possible about your likes and dislikes. After seven years, YouTube TV finally understands everything I like, and the platform has brought to light shows I didn’t know existed.
The first step is to find the shows you currently watch. Go to the show on YouTube TV and add it to your library. This has two effects. It ensures that new episodes are recorded and starts recording all repeats.
The unlimited DVR lets you record tens of thousands of hours of content. After seven years, I’ve added over 500 shows to my library and can watch around 50,000 hours of content.
Many older episodes are repeated on live TV and my YouTube TV library includes all 22 seasons of NCIS: Secret Service StoriesThat’s 467 episodes of NCIS: Secret Service Storiesplus at least another 50 of the spin-off shows. The same goes for law and order And Law & Order: SVU (over 1,000 in total), Modern Family (250), The Simpsons (650+), Hell’s Kitchen (340+), MasterChef (270+) and more.
Occasionally, YouTube TV will automatically play an older episode of a show, or if you’re using a streaming device with a remote, you might accidentally play the wrong episode. When this happens, it will appear on your home screen and removing it is easy. On a mobile device, select Mark as observed from the overflow menu (the three ellipsis). For example, if you are using an Apple TV (my preferred streaming device), hover over the show and then hold the Selection button.
Enable notifications for shows you want to watch live
Don’t miss the shows that really matter to you
When you have hundreds of shows and tens of thousands of hours to watch, it becomes difficult for YouTube TV to mark the shows you want to watch when they’re live. This is where notifications come in and why you should install the YouTube TV app on all your devices.
On your mobile device, navigate to a show on YouTube TV and press the Bell symbol next to the checkmark. This notifies you when new episodes of the show air live and ensures you don’t encounter spoilers on the internet. As my YouTube TV library grows, especially as the algorithm surfaces new content, it’s harder to keep up with the shows I like to watch. Notifications ensure I keep up with everything I want to watch live.
YouTube TV is fantastic for sports and live events
There is no better streaming platform for sports
If there’s one reason to subscribe to YouTube TV, it’s for its coverage of sports and live events. It’s the best platform for that.
Along with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Google has confirmed that YouTube TV Multiview will be available in the future. This lets you watch four live streams on one screen, like you would at a sports bar. While you can only choose from certain streams, it’s still a fantastic way to watch when it comes to a crucial moment in your favorite sport.
Source: YouTube
I also love the Key Matches feature. It’s enabled by default and allows you to catch up on key highlights of a game if you’re in the thick of it. I use it to watch the key goals and misses from my beloved Man United games.
The unlimited DVR is also handy. You don’t have to choose what to watch or record, and you can record any sport. I’m not a huge American sports fan, but I have YouTube TV set to record every Giants, Warriors, Sharks, and Lakers game. It also records every session of every F1 race and every Premier League game for every team. Why? Because I can.
Customize the TV Guide and all add-ons
Make it yours, but watch out for this particular mistake
Source: YouTube
Lastly, I recommend customizing the TV Guide and add-ons to suit your needs. YouTube TV has options that allow you to make it a truly customized experience. Want limited 4K coverage, offline downloads, and multiple simultaneous streams? These are available through add-ons.
If you customize the TV Guide order (or how channels are displayed) and new channels are later added to YouTube TV, they won’t appear in the TV Guide until you manually add them to your customization.
Like most cable providers, YouTube also offers add-ons for other streaming services, including Max, Starz, Paramount+, Sundance Now, and more, so you can access multiple streaming services from one platform. If you want to watch the NFL, YouTube TV has Sunday Ticket and NFL RedZone, as well as all WNBA games.
YouTube TV continues to offer
I had to go without YouTube TV for a few weeks when my card expired and I forgot to update it. I noticed that the platform continues to expand your library. Instead of DVR recordings where you can skip the commercials, it records the on-demand versions of the most popular shows.
You can’t skip the commercials, but at least your shows will be recorded while you don’t technically have a subscription. This only lasts for 30 days, after which the recording stops, so anything you miss will be lost from your collection until you resubscribe and it will replay on live TV.
I love YouTube TV for many reasons and it’s the best streaming TV service. And with a few of these tweaks, you can make it even better.
