No Shorts. No Store. No YouTube Music prompts. No "Next up in 5 seconds" auto-play ads (usually). It is just a simple grid of your subscriptions, trending videos, and search. For purists who miss the 2016 YouTube interface, this is therapy.
Version 4.4 maxes out at 1080p (sometimes 1440p if you hack the config). It does not support 4K, HDR, or AV1 codecs. If you have a 4K TV, this app will look soft. smart youtube tv 4.4 4
You can use it completely anonymously. If you do log in via the old "Device Activation" code method, it pulls your subscriptions perfectly. What’s Bad (The Cons) 1. The "Sign-in Error" is a Headache Google constantly changes its auth tokens. As of this writing, signing into v4.4 often fails with a "Device not certified" or generic error on the first try. You usually have to enable "Debug" mode, spoof a different device signature, or try 5 times. New users will get frustrated. No Shorts