The biggest change is that smartphones and TVs will no longer need to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network. According to Google, signing in to the same Google account on both devices will be enough for YouTube to automatically pair them.
Google announced the change through the YouTube Help Forum. Under the new system, the smartphone will be treated as a “companion” device instead of simply being used as a remote or casting source.
When a YouTube video is playing on a TV and the YouTube app is opened on the smartphone, users will see a companion panel. The panel will provide playback controls for the video playing on the TV. Users can also reopen the panel by tapping the device icon at the top of the YouTube app’s home screen.
According to the company, users will no longer need to connect their phone to the TV manually or use a shared Wi-Fi network. Signing in with the same account on both devices will be sufficient.
The companion panel will also allow users to like videos playing on the TV, write comments and subscribe to channels directly from their smartphones.
At the same time, users can continue using the YouTube app on their phones to search for other videos or watch Shorts while a video continues playing on the TV.
Google said users had complained that writing comments, reading video descriptions and subscribing to channels was difficult when using a TV remote. The rollout of the new feature has already started and it will become available to all users soon.
