As the best smartwatch you can buy, the Apple Watch allows us to do quite a bit with a few swipes and taps on our wrist. In addition to making calls, sending messages, and listening to music or podcasts, you can now screen YouTube videos right there on the small display.
No, YouTube doesn’t have its own Apple Watch app yet. But there is a third-party app called WatchTube that opens YouTube for Apple Watch owners.
WatchTube (opens in new tab) is completely free to download on the App Store – you’ll need watchOS 6 or later – and it’s pretty neat how the app replicates many of YouTube’s interface features. was able to, including searching for . The app will let you watch any video of your choice.
There are some peculiarities of WatchTube. You can’t sync your Google Account—remember, this is a third-party app. Instead, the app shows a list of trending YouTube videos. You can jump between four sections on WatchTube – Home, Search, Library, and Settings. The home section has trending videos and you can select a specific category of videos for the home page as well.
Search on the app works well, especially with the Apple Watch Series 7 keyboard. You can also use Dictation or the Watch’s message scribble feature to find videos.
Videos look smaller on screen, especially at the standard 16:9 aspect ratio. You can change the aspect ratio, but that can sometimes make them smaller.
After all, the Apple Watch’s screen is still too small for video. The Apple Watch 7 pushed the boundaries with its screen, by offering a 50% larger display at the same 45mm size than the Apple Watch 3, but it’s a long way from serving as an ideal screen for watching videos. Is. There may be a reason why there is no official YouTube app for Apple Watch after this time.
(image credits: future)
WatchTube is a bit slow to load. I tried watching videos on my Apple Watch SE and found that the home page took ages to load completely and then a specific video took even longer to load. The audio works well though – you can also listen through AirPods or through the built in speakers on the Apple Watch.
Will WatchTube make it to our guide on the best Apple Watch apps in 2022? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a neat no-frills app that serves a specific purpose. And hey, it’s 2022 so if you want your Apple Watch to really do it all, watching videos can now be part of the mix.
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