Some of the underrated options of Apple TV is its attractive screensavers that present aerial views of breathtaking areas in vivid 4K. In a mildly alarming improvement, it’s been reported that the YouTube app for Apple TV has not too long ago been set as much as override the system screensaver and run its personal lower-quality equal.
By default, the Apple TV begins exhibiting a screensaver after it’s been left idle for 5 minutes. However when you’ve bought the YouTube app open, this may as an alternative set off its personal screensaver simply earlier than that time, based on the visible results artist and podcaster Joe Rosensteel. This seems to be a latest improvement, on condition that an earlier model of the app that Rosensteel checked on a unique Apple TV didn’t show the identical conduct.
It’s not clear how this began occurring or why the tvOS system permits it, however we assume Apple is investigating a method to block it in tvOS 17.5.
In the intervening time that is merely annoying. The Apple TV’s screensaver is, as you’ll in all probability count on from an Apple creation, visually luxurious and well-designed. However the YouTube screensaver is solely a mishmash of low-quality nonetheless photos from varied movies. Or, worse nonetheless, when you’ve bought one particular video open and paused, the app will loop the thumbnail artwork for that video. As Rosensteel fairly moderately observes, “A few of the worst sins of mankind exist in YouTube thumbnails, and so they’re not designed to be screensavers.” Apart from the poor high quality of the art work, lots of the photos he noticed getting used featured static textual content and logos, which isn’t very best for a screensaver.
However this may occasionally level to extra pernicious conduct sooner or later as a result of YouTube is unlikely to be occupied with working its personal screensaver for the enjoyable of it. Sooner or later, Rosensteel predicts, the corporate will attempt to leverage this actual property to run adverts or promote chosen content material. And different apps might try and horn in on the racket too.
Proper now, there’s a reasonably straightforward answer to cease this occurring. Whereas the Apple TV’s screensaver kicks off after 5 minutes by default, this will simply be set to a decrease worth. Change this to a few minutes and it’ll pre-empt YouTube and forestall its screensaver from ever being seen. If the YouTube app ever will get intelligent sufficient to detect the system settings and undercut them by two seconds, we’ll all be in bother–however possibly Apple will step in and have a phrase.