Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Android users finally get YouTube TV parity with iPhone

YouTube TV multiview options on an Android phone.
Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

YouTube TV is the biggest live-streaming service in the U.S., and multiview — the ability to watch more than one thing at a time — is a big reason why. And after having spent a couple months on iPhones and iPads, it’s now finally available on Android phones and tablets.

You don’t have to do anything more than make sure your app is updated. The feature itself is included in the monthly subscription and doesn’t cost any extra.

YouTube TV still hasn’t enabled multiview carte blanche, though. For example, you can’t just throw together two- and four-channel blocks and watch whatever you want. You’re still limited to sports, news, business, and weather. And while YouTube TV has said it’s opening things up eventually so that you can choose the exact channels within those categories, right now you’re still at the mercy of the programming gods. You get the multiview channels someone else wants you to have.

Still, even in its limited form, it’s a great option. And it’s one you’ll almost certainly want to take advantage of come fall if you also subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket, which enters its second season as an exclusive on YouTube TV.

Multiview is more useful on a bigger screen, for obvious reasons, but it’s still pretty good even on a smallish phone.

YouTube TV itself is available on every major platform, from Android and Google TV to iPhones, iPads, and Apple TV. It’s also on Roku and Amazon Fire TV, and you can watch in a web browser, too. The base plan costs about $73 a month, and YouTube TV has a world of add-ons that can make it that much more powerful a streaming service. There’s also the ability to watch a decent amount of content in 4K resolution.

Phil Nickinson
Phil spent the 2000s making newspapers with the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, the 2010s with Android Central and then the…
Yes, YouTube TV is kind of broken tonight
YouTube TV and Hulu apps on the Roku homescreen.

The YouTube TV live guide is just one feature that's down for subscribers this evening. Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

If you've fired up YouTube TV this evening and are trying to figure out why things are kind of broken all over the place, know that you're not alone. The most popular streaming service in the U.S. is seeing some fairly significant issues tonight.

Read more
Sling TV vs. YouTube TV
Sling TV guide on an iPhone.

The Sling TV guide as seen on an iPhone. Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

YouTube TV is the most popular live-streaming service in the U.S., with more than 8 million subscribers. Sling TV has about one-quarter of that. But it's still worth looking at the latter against the former because it does things a little differently.

Read more
YouTube TV just got even better on iPhones and iPads
Multiview on YouTube TV on an iPad.

If you use the most popular live-streaming service on an iPhone or iPad, things just got even better. YouTube TV — which boasts more than 8 million subscribers — just pushed multiview live on Apple's mobile devices, as previously promised.

It works basically the same way it does on a television. YouTube TV picks the programs available in multiview, and you get them all at once, with audio coming from one of the shows. Tap another, and the audio switches. And just as before, you can get multiview for sports, news, business, or weather. (Though we definitely don't recommend watching four news channels at once in an election year.) It's just in time for March Madness, which is great, though we hope you'll be able to pick your own games instead of just sticking with the multiple viewing options YouTube TV gives. This will be great come fall, though, when the new season of NFL Sunday Ticket takes hold.

Read more