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YouTube Feature Looks to Help You Connect Your Phone to Your TV

What you do and see in the YouTube app on your phone will translate to your TV screen.

Kourtnee Jackson Senior Editor
Kourtnee covers TV streaming services and home entertainment news and reviews at CNET. She previously worked as an entertainment reporter at Showbiz Cheat Sheet where she wrote about film, television, music, celebrities, and streaming platforms.
Expertise Cord-cutting | TV and music streaming services | Netflix | Disney Plus | Max | Anime | Interviews | Entertainment Credentials
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Kourtnee Jackson
2 min read
YouTube logo on a phone

You can do more than stream videos from your phone to your TV.

 James Martin/CNET

YouTube is going beyond the standard cast-to-TV option available for mobile phones. On Wednesday, the company launched a new feature that's designed to let users do more than just stream videos from their phones to the TV screen. Viewers who connect their Android and iOS phones to the big screen can now interact with YouTube videos through a variety of activities, including likes, shares or comments. For fans of YouTube Shorts, this could totally enhance how you binge those clips.

Though you can watch YouTube through a dedicated app on a smart TV or phone, some users tapped the cast feature to broadcast content from their phones to a TV screen. While casting, viewers use their phones to react to YouTube videos, share links or subscribe. In a blog post, the media giant explained how you're able to sync up your phone and TV viewing experiences with one click. 

Rather than tapping a phone's cast icon to connect to your TV, YouTube offers a new way to link both devices. To use the feature, you'll need to log in to the YouTube app on your TV and phone. Open the app on your TV, and then open the YouTube app on your phone, where you'll be prompted to click Connect.    

According to YouTube, the function makes it "easier than ever to read video descriptions, leave comments, share the video with a friend, or support your favorite creators by sending a Super Chat or becoming a member." Why? You'll be able to see it happen on on your TV's full screen.  Additionally, the company is testing options that allow you to explore or buy products that show up in YouTube videos while your phone and TV are connected.