For the past several years, multiview has been one of YouTube TV’s best features, especially for sports fans like myself. Multiview allows you to watch up to four livestreams at once and toggle between them (and their audio) when something exciting happens. At its initial launch for March Madness in 2023, multiview was restricted to certain preselected channel combinations, but YouTube confirmed in January of this year that a fully customizable multiview was on the way. It’s now available to some subscribers—myself included.
Trying out YouTube TV’s multiview
With customizable multiview, you can select up to four channels across content categories, so you’re not limited to just sports, news, or a preset view. As Reddit users have pointed out, this update allows you to mix sports networks that previously couldn’t be watched side-by-side or weren’t available in all combinations—something I’m particularly excited about. Plus, because you can choose anywhere from two to four streams, you don’t have to keep additional channels included in preset views for things you don’t want to watch or after programming ends (like when a sports broadcast transitions to local news).
I tried it out and was able to create a variety of random views. First, I combined ESPN with CNN, NFL Live, and TNT; then, the Golf Channel plus AMC, Fox Sports, and the SEC Network. The only snag I hit was with a local news channel: When I tried to add it to my multiview, I got a “video unavailable” error, even though it was available for selection. I’m still most likely to use custom multiview for sports, especially during seasons like college basketball and college football when lots of games are being played at once and often across channels owned by different networks and to select just the two or three things I want to see rather than a full four-stream view.
How to use YouTube TV’s multiview
To build a custom multiview, open a livestream in full screen, then press the down button on your remote—on mobile, tap the player—and select Multiview. If your account has the option, tap Your multiview to choose up to four live programs from different content categories, including sports, news, movies, shows, and “other.” YouTube TV will also show you recommended streams. To remove and/or replace channels, press the down button again and tap Change multiview > Your multiview. The current streams will be at the top of the Recommended section. From here, you can click to remove them.
What do you think so far?
As Android Authority reports, this feature may not be available to all YouTube TV users yet. Make sure your app is up to date, but know that the rollout could take time.
