Our long national nightmare is over. As spotted by the folks who blew the whistle in the first place (and picked up by 9to5Mac), you can now use the YouTube app on Apple TV without fear that YouTube itself will show a screensaver-like video as a preview of other videos when you’re not actually watching a video in the first place because you left the app idle.
Or in other words, folks will have to stop complaining that the YouTube app “stole” their screensaver away from Apple, even though it didn’t. Not really, anyway.
What happened was that at some point in April 2024, the YouTube app on Apple TV started showing what looked like screensavers if you left the YouTube app idle for around 4 minutes and change. And those screensavers had a little “Press up to play” icon that, when pressed up, would open the full video of the screensaver. So, really it was YouTube repurposing other videos as screensavers.
There were a few problems with that, though. Chief among them (to me, anyway) was that you didn’t have any control over it. There were no settings, and no mechanism by which to say “Don’t do that,” or “It’s fine, but wait longer before triggering.” It would hardly be the first time Google aimed after firing, though.
Also problematic was that from a visual standpoint, the YouTube screensavers just weren’t anywhere near as captivating as Apple’s own Aerial screensavers. Not by a long shot. Apple’s screensavers are still the best.
And then there are the Apple fans who scoffed at the mere idea that Google would dare sully their experience somehow. I’m not among them, though I do think Google could have done this a little better. Nor do I think the YouTube app was hijacking the screensaver experience — it was just, well, bypassing it a little. You could set Apple’s screensaver to kick in quicker, and that would keep the YouTube app from launching its own screensaver-like experience that, due to the way things work, would tell the Apple TV interface “I’m still showing a video, so don’t run your own screensaver!”
None of this was a huge deal, though. Folks were complaining about an app showing something when you basically stopped paying attention to the app in the first place. Coders can be clever sometimes, and this was one of those times.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
Technology evolves every day, transforming how we live and work. Our devices are becoming more than tools we use. They are increasingly capable companions that help streamline day-to-day routines and spark creative ideas. If you have been waiting for the right moment to upgrade your tech setup, the Discover Samsung Shopping Event offers an opportunity to explore what connected, AI-powered living can look like.