The YouTube app on Apple TV will show a preview of a nature video after the app sits idle for four - and - a - half minutes . Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends
Let ’s say you happen to be an app developer that develops an app for the existence ’s biggest online picture platform — YouTube . And you ’re tasked with develop the app for what we consider to be thebest streaming hardware you may buy — Apple television .
And for the most part , thing have been pretty good , even though Apple telly is ( obviously ) an Apple thing , and YouTube is very much a Google ( OK , Alphabet ) matter . Sure , there were hiccups in the past , like 4 KB television being a little wonky . Maybe some HDR issues . That all got work out , though .
The YouTube app on Apple TV will show a preview of a nature video after the app sits idle for four-and-a-half minutes.Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends
Apparently that meant it was meter to intrude the bear .
This is a little silly and not at all a huge wad . But , yes , as descry here , the YouTube app on Apple TV now has its own “ screensaver ” ( those quotes are intentional — get with me ) that kicks in if you sit idle on the app for too long . In other words , if the app is overt on your Apple TV and you ’re not actually determine a YouTube video , then the YouTube app will give you something to catch . And , ya know , do some basic screen bite - in protection in the cognitive operation . The horror .
The trouble is this : Apple television receiver has long has an splendid screensaver scheme . So good , in fact , that folks question if theApple television set screensavers are real . Competitors like Amazon Fire TV and Google TV have catch up and are very effective in their own rights — Amazon ’s new Ambient Experienceis compelling — but Apple TV ’s screensavers are in a class of their own . What you see on the YouTube app if it sits loose for 4 minutes and 30 seconds ( yes , we checked ) is not that . They ’re abject resolution and not particularly compelling . I ’ll go so far as to say they are not effective . In fact , they ’re pretty bad , visually mouth — probably because they ’re not design - ramp up as screensavers .
There ’s a piffling bit of school text on the screen , telling you what you ’re look at , and inviting you to press up on the remote mastery to watch out a full TV of the screensaver . So , really , what you ’re see is a prevue of a video , being shown while nothing else has happened in the app for 270 seconds . And you ’re invited to watch the full picture . The ones we ’ve looked at all had millions of views — take “ Acrylic Pouring Techniques ” as seen below , for lesson . That ’s the label on the video recording preview ( erm , screensaver ) . The full video championship is “ 20 Different Acrylic Pouring Techniques – Abstract Fluid Art + Music . ” The video — which you’re able to look out here — is a little more than an hour long , was uploaded in 2021 , and has more than 11 million views .
But these telecasting prevue are not “ highjack ” the Apple TV screensaver . At least not in the agency the use of that Bible might convey . They ’re just butt in billet is all — the app equivalent of a web log commenter digitally yelling “ first ! ” If you were to watch another video , you ’d also be “ hijacking ” the Apple TV screensaver by preventing it from plunge .
Is the YouTube app being a little furtive by firing up its own screensaver 30 moment before Apple ’s would kvetch in at the default 5 - minute of arc fall guy ? Definitely . Deviantly ? perhaps . ( Probably . Almost certainly . ) Once the YouTube screensaver is fighting , it keeps the Apple TV screensaver from kicking in — because the YouTube screensaver is , ya have it off , doing thing . The “ workaround ? ” Set the Apple TV screensaver to turn on at 2 instant , out front of the YouTube screensaver , which does n’t currently have any configurations in the app to exchange its trigger time .
I love the Apple TV screensavers , and I ’ve written more than my plowshare of word abouthow the various streaming platforms do screensavers . I think they ’re a material intellect toget an Apple TV 4K. They ’re gorgeous . They ’re better than all the other pick .
This is why there are rules when it comes to developing apps . This is why there are theoretical account . This is why there are genus Apis , which shape how thing are done . And this is what hap when there are gaps in those framework .
Apple may well close that gap somehow . It may also provide proper developer dick to let for third - party screensavers on tvOS , though that manifestly will lead to a flood of low - quality options , and it ’s potential Apple does n’t want that . ( It may well want that tax income percentage it buzz off from App Store sales , though . ) correctly now , the only selection is to inscribe a standard Apple TV app and then launch it manually .
Doing that , by the way , will also foreclose the Apple TV screensaver from launching . Go anatomy .
