[Updated] YouTube TV app on Apple TV hit with streaming/video quality glitch

Update:

More YouTube-related issues like Library tab throwing error and missing sidebar are coming light. Head here for details.

Original story follows:

For over a week now, YouTube TV app is acting a little wonky on Apple 4K TVs with broken streaming. Varied use-cases are coming to light. Some say the video first buffers, then takes unnecessary long time to load, following which the it gets blurry or the picture quality deteriorates before switching to the actually selected one. Others report the stream won’t even load, and all they get to see is the spinning wheel.

The following selection of user comments show what those affected have to say:

I’ve used YouTube TV for three months, but since last week my picture is blurry and buffering takes way too long. I use Apple TV and understand that YouTube TV has issues with Apple.

Having the same issue, very frustrating with live network TV. Initially my Apple TV 4K worked flawlessly for a couple months with zero issues. Last week it began to buffer slightly, with the spinning wheel until a fuzzy picture briefly came through but cleared up right away. Thought it might have been an internet issue but ruled that out with download speed tests showing over 150 Mbps. Now, when ever we change channels or just start up YouTube TV it is very consistent; blank screen, spinning wheel eventually turning into a fuzzy picture which eventually clears

Same issue here. It used to work properly but for the last week it started taking several minutes to clear to HD resolution when I first turn to a channel. YouTube TV is totally fine on all other devices. This is only an issue on Apple TV and only just started happening. Super annoying.

Mine loads after about 15 seconds and the quality is substandard for about a minute before improving to 1080/2160.

Even micro-blogging site Twitter is flooded with complaints, some of which can be seen below:

@TeamYouTube Are there issues with the tv app on apple tv. For the last week I have had slow performance and low bandwidth issues. It’s only happening with your app.

— Bob Jenkins (@J3tface) December 5, 2018

@YouTubeTV hey when I load a channel the quality is very low. It’s been doing this for the last few days on my Apple TV. Only happens on your app not any other. Any idea what could be up?

— Pinot Grigio (@ThemeParkFan83) December 4, 2018

and more –1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10

Similar reports can be seen on Apple Community (1,2) as well as online discussion platform Reddit.

Apple TV quality defaulting to 240p from youtubetv

Stream not loading on Apple TV from youtubetv

Blurry this morning, takes very long to clear up from youtubetv

Apple TV 4K picture/speed issues from youtubetv

Is YouTube aware of the problem?

Yes they are. What’s appeasing is that, Team YouTube has been actively informing the complainants on Twitter that they are aware and working on fixing whatever’s causing the quality issue. Here’s their complete statement:

Hi Bob. We're experiencing a quality issue between the YouTube TV app and Apple TV. We're actively working to get this resolved. Reinstalling the YouTube TV app and/or performing a factory reset has proven to be useful for some users. Let us know if that fixes it!

— Team YouTube (@TeamYouTube) December 5, 2018

We hope the matter gets resolved soon. Rest assured, we’ll update the story as and when that occurs. So keep a tab of this space. Meanwhile, as suggested by Team YouTube, give reinstalling the app or factory restore a try.

Follow @PiunikaWeb

PiunikaWeb is a unique initiative that mainly focuses on investigative journalism. This means we do a lot of hard work to come up with news stories that are either ‘exclusive,’ ‘breaking,’ or ‘curated’ in nature. Perhaps that’s the reason our work has been picked by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and more. Do take a tour of our website to get a feel of our work. And if you like what we do, stay connected with us on Twitter (@PiunikaWeb) and other social media channels to receive timely updates on stories we publish.