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YouTube App For Apple TV Comes With a New Look

Good news for Apple TV users. YouTube has announced that it has updated the app so the Apple TV user can enjoy the new look and the new friendlier features of the most popular video streaming website.

Google made an official statement saying the new YouTube app for Apple TV will have a new design, cooler personalized recommendations and even more video content than before. Google said that with the new upgrade the users can watch every YouTube video on their Apple TVs, without any gaps in their video library. However, users are not spared of the annoying ads that keep popping up at the wrong time.

With the upgraded YouTube app for Apple TV, the user gets to enjoy a new predictive search feature, of which Google says that it should simplify the process of finding specific videos. Also, the users can subscribe to any YouTube channel right from the app.

Apple has announced some big news itself. It has just added four new channels to the Apple TV, channels like The Scene, which belongs to Conde Nast. Apple also added Fusion, a news and popular culture channel, the super popular fighting channel called UFC.TV and a YouTube-like video-sharing website called DailyMotion.

The new YouTube app for Apple TV and the latest Apple TV channels are available now and can be seen on the Apple TV where it says “New”.
The cool design of the new YouTube app for Apple TV resembles the YouTube found on other content streaming devices like Roku, meaning that it features cool video thumbnails and other tools for a fast video discovery. The new feature include personalized recommendation based on what the users have previously watched on YouTube, a predictive search and the possibility to subscribe to other channels using the app.

YouTube calls its new app for Apple TV “the full YouTube experience, right from your TV.”
Some complained that Apple hasn’t been updating its Apple TV with any major features, but the new YouTube App proves that Apple TV cares about its users.
Unfortunately, the new YouTube app for Apple TV does not come without those pesty ads.

Roku Sets a New Record: 10 Million Devices Sold

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So far, the most popular streaming box in the US, Roku has sold more than 10 million pieces since its release in May 2008. Back then, it didn’t have any competition and Roku was the first Netflix on TVs. Now, Roku is not the only streaming box on the market but it’s still one of the most bought one.

The biggest rival is of course Apple, which has sold more than 20 million Apple TVs since it was first released back in April. Apple first launched the streaming player in 2007 to see what impact it will have on the market. When it brought more than $1 billion in revenue and sales, Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook decided that it was time to get serious about it. Roku’s other important rivals include Google’s Chromecast and Amazon’s Fire TV, which are gaining in popularity as we speak.

Although the competition hasn’t yet revealed any sales figures regarding their devices, Roku’s future is looking bright, even though they won’t sell as much as Apple.

Anthony Wood, Roku’s CEO and founder stated that:

“We’re thrilled that Roku is recognized for making America’s favorite streaming players. Our goal is make TV better for everyone and that single focus guides us to create better ways for consumers to easily and instantly enjoy the best streaming entertainment. With the recent launch of Roku TV, we’re offering even more ways to stream.”

According to Roku, an average of 37 million hours of video is streamed using their device every week, in comparison to Apple TV’s 15 million hours. Chromcast has 12 million hours, while Amazon’s Fire TV has 6 million hours. This means that Roku is people’s favorite when it comes to spending time watching TV on a streaming box.

Roku also stated that their device has a total of 1,800 streaming channels, 1000 more than its rivals.

YouTube Is Available On All Roku Boxes

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Roku is one of the most popular streaming boxes available at the moment. It is the box with the most online video content with about 1,500 channels so far. But until now most of the Roku streaming boxes didn’t have the world’s biggest video provider, YouTube. It was only available on the Roku 3 and the Roku streaming stick. From now on, Youtube is available on all of Roku’s current generation streaming boxes. With its latest addition of Yoututbe on all of their devices, Roku caught up to the recently released Amazon TV which announced earlier this month their addition of YouTube apps on their boxes. The only streaming box lacking the YouTube apps is the Apple TV, but we’re predicting this will change in the near future.

At the moment Netflix is the most popular app for streaming boxes and smart TVs. YouTube is on the second place as a research survey revealed. 40% of the people who have smart TVs are using Netflix as their number one service for watching popular movies and TV shows. YouTube actually was in front of Amazon and Hulu Plus.

Roku previously wanted to get YouTube on some of their devices by allowing a Chromecast-like streaming from YouTube’s mobile apps. You just have to press a button in the Roku device and your box will start playing a video stream. This was only available for Roku 3 and Roku Streaming stick which had YouTube apps installed on it. From now on YouTube is available on all Roku boxes.

YouTube Is Available On All Roku Boxes

If you have a Roku streaming box you can add the YouTube channel by signing into your Roku account and navigate to the YouTube channel in the available app store. The YouTube app is supported by the following Roku devices: Roku 1, Roku 2, Roku 2 HD, Roku LT, Roku 2 XD, Roku HD model number 2500, Roku 2XS and the Roku Ready stick that came with some of the TVs. As you know, the YouTube app was available only on Roku Streaming Stick and Roku 3.

If you are a Comcast customer, you can access Fox TV shows on your Roku with Fox’s Roku channel. Fox requires its users to have a satellite TV account or a cable in order to get the Roku channel.

What do you think about the fact that YouTube is available on all Roku boxes? Do you use Roku or other streaming boxes? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.