The move from cable to streaming for live TV changed a lot of things. Choice, for one. (We have more.) Price, for another. (You’re likely paying less.) But not all changes were great. If you’re of the channel-surfing variety — or love to flip back and forth between two channels — you’ve likely been missing that feature.
This is hardly a new idea. Cable remotes long had a dedicated button for going to the previous channel. And the defunct streaming service PlayStation Vue also allowed for it in the same way that YouTube TV has implemented it. Hold down the OK or select button (it might vary slightly depending on the platform you’re using), and you’ll return to the last channel you watched. Hold it again, and you’ll go back to the first channel. A YouTube TV community manager on Redditconfirmedthat it works on live content, recorded shows, and on-demand.
You don’t have to do anything to get the new feature, though you may want to ensure your YouTube TV app is updated on whatever you use it on. And it won’t cost you any extra, which is nice in an era in which streaming companies are nickeling and diming us to death.
YouTube TV is available on every major streaming platform, from Roku and Amazon Fire TV to Google TV and Apple TV and everything in between. It’s also available on phones and tablets, and in a web browser. (Though you won’t get the previous channel feature there.) YouTube TV costs $73 a month for the base service and has several optional add-ons, including the ability to watch some live and on-demand contentin 4K resolution. It’s also where you’ll want to go towatch NFL Sunday Ticket.
