YouTube Rolls Out New TV Interface, Starts With Xbox One

YouTube is launching a redesigned HTML5-based TV interface today that will put a stronger emphasis on your playlists and the channels you subscribe to. This new version is rolling out for the Xbox One now and will find its way to other connected devices like the PS3, Roku, smart TVs, streaming players and Blu-ray players soon.

Unlike the previous version, which seemed more focused on browsing without being logged in, this new interface puts more emphasis on your subscriptions, personalized recommendations, uploads and history. All of these features were available in the earlier version, too, but in the old design, they were part of a relatively unwieldy list. The new design neatly organizes them into different groups.

Unsurprisingly, the new version also offers a flatter look that seems to be in line with Google’s Material Design initiative.

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The channel and playlist pages also got a bit of a makeover. Instead of just a single side-scrolling list, they now feature multiple sub-genres. That actually makes the application much more interesting to use because previously, scrolling through the long list was rather annoying and not an easy way to discover content that was interesting to you. Most of the time when you are using YouTube on the TV, after all, you are simply browsing for a funny cat video, and the easier Google can make it for you to find those, the more time you are likely going to spend with the service.

YouTube still hasn’t officially rolled out an application for the PlayStation 4 yet. Chances are, that launch isn’t that far off. When it does finally arrive, it will sport this new interface from the get-go.