YouTube is one of the most used video sharing platforms in the world, where you can find music videos, funny videos, vlogs and anything else for free, an account is not even required (although it is preferable to create one in order to add favorite videos and to follow the channels we like best). If we are avid YouTube users but do not have a TV with support for Smart features (for example small TVs in the bedroom or monitors without tuners for digital terrestrial channels), we can quickly remedy using some cheap and complete devices to enjoy the YouTube videos as if we were on the PC, with a much higher comfort than the mouse and keyboard.
In this guide we will show you how to see YouTube on a large number of different devices : simple TV Box, Now TV Box, Chromecast and Fire TV, it's up to us to choose the best method to take advantage of the video platform.
READ ALSO: 20 YouTube tricks and different ways of watching videos
How to watch YouTube on Now TV Box
The Now TV Box is offered by the Now TV on-demand service to access hundreds of multimedia contents offered by Sky without the need to place a parabola on the roof, using the Internet connection to watch any film, TV series or entertainment program .
In addition to the contents of Sky, you can take advantage of the Now TV Box to view YouTube channels and videos, just open the device home, go to the App (we can also use the button of the same name on the remote control) and open the pre-installed app YouTube .
Select it and to open the app we use the Open app item.
After a few seconds we will see the YouTube home screen in TV mode, adapted for use on large screens.
We can use the search bar at the top to find other videos, select those recommended or present in the various categories and enjoy them at the highest quality.
To control the app we can use either the TV Box remote control (very inconvenient) or use YouTube's interaction with other mobile apps ; make sure you have a smartphone with the YouTube app installed, connect to the same network where the Now TV Box is connected and, from the Youtube app on your smartphone, we use the Cast button at the top to associate yourself with the YouTube app on the TV Box.
So we can type comfortably using the keyboard of the smartphone and upload the desired videos by searching for them on the portable device without going crazy with a remote control.
The peculiarity of the Now TV Box is to always stay on (low energy), therefore once the YouTube app is opened we will always display the Cast button when we connect to our network, so that we can turn on the TV immediately and immediately see the YouTube videos without even using the remote control.
READ ALSO: How to see Sky without parabola and fixed subscription
How to watch YouTube on Chromecast
Another easy way to watch YouTube is to use Chromecast, which adds support for the Cast protocol on any TV where it is installed.
Once configured and connected to the home WiFi network, simply use a portable device (a smartphone or tablet) connected to the same network, open the YouTube app on it and use the same Cast button seen in the previous image ( on Now TV Box).
We select the name assigned to the Chromecast from the menu to hook it and broadcast all the videos and channels displayed by the mobile app on the TV.
Currently this is one of the fastest and most practical methods to add support to YouTube on any television, just get the right Chromecast from the link here -> Chromecast .
If we have an HD or FullHD TV we can take the simple Chromecast (39 €), if we have a 4K TV we can take the Chromecast Ultra (79 € ).
How to watch YouTube on Chinese TV Box
Even the Chinese TV Boxes allow you to watch YouTube with good quality, to the point of currently being one of the cheapest methods to watch the videos of the platform on any home TV.
First of all let's get a good cheap TV Box among those available here -> Best Android TV BOX .
We assemble and connect the TV Box to the home WiFi network and to the TV via HDMI cable; we select the right video output and use the YouTube app, usually present in the set of apps pre-installed on all TV Boxes (at least those tested).
If we can't find the YouTube app among the pre-installed ones, we can always use the Google Play Store to retrieve it; we click on the Store icon, log in with our Google account and search for YouTube, to install it on the TV Box.
The management of the app is completely similar to that already seen on Now TV Box, with an interface optimized for use on large screens and the interaction system via Cast protocol, which allows you to control the YouTube app ( present on the Chinese TV Box) from other homonymous apps installed on smartphones or tablets, so as to be able to send videos and control and playback.
How to watch YouTube on Amazon Fire TV Stick
To conclude, let's talk about the Amazon Fire TV Stick, an HDMI dongle that allows you to install apps directly in the device's memory and to use them using the remote control, in a completely different way from Chromecast (which instead acts as a simple player).
Unfortunately, this device ended up at the center of a "struggle" between Amazon and Google, with the latter having removed YouTube support for the Amazon Fire TV Stick via the official app (it does not work and is no longer downloadable), so if we are among the owners of the Amazon dongle the only alternative to see YouTube is to take advantage of the Mozilla Firefox browser, which offers full support for the videos on YouTube and offers a (legal) way to continue watching videos while the two giants of the Web decide what to do.
To download Mozilla Firefox to the Fire TV, all we have to do is access the Amazon Fire TV Stick home, go to Categories, select from the Web Browser options, then the Firefox app and finally install the browser.
Open the browser app we will immediately see the icon that leads to YouTube, with which you can continue to watch videos.
The videos will be seen in the mobile interface compatible with Firefox, but the quality is very good so as not to regret the official app (even if it was much more comfortable).
We can buy the Amazon Fire TV Stick from here -> Fire TV Stick Basic Edition .
READ ALSO: Full screen Youtube TV to watch videos on TV
