YouTube TV comes to the main YouTube app on select Vizio SmartCast TVs

More users can access YouTube TV without opening a separate app.

What you need to know

• Certain Vizio TVs will soon be able to access YouTube TV from the main YouTube app.
• The update should be rolling out over the next few days to Vizio models from 2020 onwards.
• The change comes after Google and Roku’s very public spat over the terms of YouTube TV.

YouTube TV is now being merged into the main YouTube app on select Visio televisions. The change was announced on the YouTube TV Twitter account on Wednesday.

The change comes only a few weeks after the app was pulled from the Roku Channel Store amid a public spat over the terms of hosting the app on the platform. Google responded by releasing a workaround; rolling YouTube TV into the main YouTube app. It was a move that Roku did not appreciate, calling it the “clear conduct of an unchecked monopolist.”

Google has maintained that its terms for the app are fair and that Roku has “requested exceptions that would break the YouTube experience.” The company also stated that the change would reach more smart TVs “over time,” and it appears that the time is here.

Eligible Vizio TVs are limited to the 2020 models and newer ones. According to the YouTube TV Twitter account, the change should appear within the next couple of days. To access YouTube TV, users would have to open the YouTube app and scroll to the bottom of the side navigation menu.

For anyone that uses both services, it should potentially make it easier to switch between the two. However, the dedicated YouTube TV app will remain for those that prefer to keep the experiences separate.

Vizio may not make any of the best Android TVs since it uses its own SmartCast platform, but the company is known for having great value smart TVs that are compatible with Chromecast and can work with Google Assistant. Of course, anyone can get the full Google experience by purchasing a device like the Chromecast with Google TV.

Great value smart TV

Vizio M-Series Quantum 55″

$499 at Best Buy

The best bang for your buck

Vizio makes some of the best value smart TVs around, thanks to their great color reproduction, full-array local dimming, and SmartCast platform that’s compatible with both Apple AirPlay and Google Chromecast.