Google has updated its YouTube app for iOS users with the 'send to tv' option that now allows them to automatically send videos from their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch devices to their smart televisions. It also lets them send YouTube videos to the Xbox and the PlayStation 3, after a manual pairing process.
Once paired, users can use their iOS devices to remotely control the videos playing on-screen. All they need to do is open a video and tap the onscreen TV icon on the top right corner and it will prompt them to select the device they'd like to view it on. Once done, the video plays on the preferred choice of screen.
Users will also be able to pause, scroll and navigate to the next video as it plays on the TV. They can also find another video to watch or browse the Web on their device, while the video plays.
Besides this, the video sharing service has also added YouTube Capture support within the native app allowing for recordings and uploads. However, when we tried to access the Settings menu or save a recording using Capture from within the app, it crashed every time.
YouTube for iOS also brings improved streaming over slow Wi-Fi connections along with other stability improvements.
The Android app was updated with the 'send to tv' feature back in November last year allowing it to send video to Google TVs. With YouTube's extended associations with Smart TV manufacturers, users did not need a YouTube app on their TV per se, but just a mobile device with YouTube and necessary integrated software installed that would let you watch videos on the big screen.
Earlier last month, YouTube announced partnerships with Bang & Olufsen, LG, Panasonic and Sony Philips to introduce the mobile/ TV pairing feature. It also added that this year more devices from Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba, Vizio and Western Digital and others will also be roped in.
The new devices will also let users beam HD videos and channels to their big screen. Until now, only smartphones and tablets were seen as secondary screens. But with this new concept, it turns out that televisions have now joined the league as well.