It's been 12 years since the YouTube app was offered on smart televisions. But all this time smart devices and TVs have to use the same WiFi network before content from the device can be streamed to the TV. Today the YouTube app was updated to simplify this process.
When the YouTube app is opened on Android and iOS devices, it will look for whether the account is also being used on a smart TV. If ye a pop up screen will appear in the app asking if you want to make a connection to the TV. Just press the Connect button and now the process of projecting the video to a larger screen can be done.
On televisions, users will be advised to open a smartphone app to purchase products that may be featured in the video. With interactions like this, watching YouTube videos is no longer passive.
According to YouTube this syncing feature is using user accounts. Smartphones can still stream content to a TV even using cellular networks only and the two devices do not share the same WiFi. This feature can be used starting today.