MyTube! will soon destroy the official Xbox One YouTube app (video)

By Jez Corden
published

Windows 10 PC and Mobile users have been enjoying MyTube! for years, but soon Xbox One owners get to join the party.

MyTube! is what I'd call a Universal Windows Platform (UWP) superhero app, showcasing not only how a universal Windows App can be beautiful but also exemplifying all of UWP's most powerful features.

We put together a quick video to showcase what MyTube! Beta looks like on Xbox One right as it rapidly heads towards to a full public rollout.

As expected, MyTube! for Xbox One is a huge step up from YouTube's official efforts. MyTube! not only disables ads by default, but it's far faster than YouTube and lets you manually set the visual quality of a video.

As a fully featured app, MyTube! will also allow users to browse and submit comments, share video from their phones and PCs, and vice versa, and eventually download video to play offline.

The latest version of the Xbox Insider Program now has the UWP File Explorer, and we've heard file picker support is on the way for developers who make UWP apps for Xbox One. When these features are live, you will be able to download and store YouTube videos via MyTube! on your Xbox One, and even separate the audio. MyTube! also supports Xbox One's background audio, making it a great option for adding soundtracks of your own to your games.

Unlike the official YouTube app, MyTube! features picture-in-picture browsing, allowing you to browse through YouTube's vast library without shutting down your current video. We also expect Xbox One to pick up Windows 10's Compact Overlay Mode in the future, and MyTube! will support it as soon as it's able.

Since Google has no interest in supporting the Windows ecosystem, it falls to developers such as Ryken Apps to fill in the gaps to utilize the Xbox One's most powerful features.

MyTube! is currently available for Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile, and the beta features mentioned here will roll out more broadly to PCs, phones, and Xbox One users in the coming weeks.

You can download the existing app or the beta app using the links below. Once you have downloaded the beta app on a Windows 10 device, it should appear on your Xbox One's "Ready to Install" list under Games & Apps.

Jez Corden
Jez Corden
Co-Managing Editor

Jez Corden a Managing Editor at Windows Central, focusing primarily on all things Xbox and gaming. Jez is known for breaking exclusive news and analysis as relates to the Microsoft ecosystem while being powered by caffeine. Follow on Twitter @JezCorden and listen to his Xbox Two podcast, all about, you guessed it, Xbox!

81 Comments
  • I wonder where the developers of Tubecast are?
    .
    They had such a good app for W8 devices and they really should invest in the Windows 10 platform.
  • In my girlfriend's 640 sometimes Tubecast's tile disappears! (set in small)
  • Yeah Tubecast was one of the best.
  • Tubecast has been broken on creators update (ewll at least since september). Maybe if more people tweet him. He's been somewhat responsive to me in the past about issues I've brought up. He mentioned a while ago a rewrite for windows 10 but I can't even remember when that was. https://twitter.com/LikaSumBohday/status/773667510453407744
  • Why Google is not supporting this platform? It's wired... Glad my tube is good app to use
  • Because they don't want to play nice, but really they miss the point in bothering.
  • Cuz "Don't be evil" it's just a motto... They don't put into practice.
  • Google knows that supporting Windows 10 would affect Chrome OS and Android. Even with Google's current approach Windows is slowly taking market away from Android tablets. If Google supported Windows Phone in 2011-2012 things might have went differently. In the end, while it is unfair to Google's customers that use Windows, it is also a smart business decision that helps them maintain high rewards in other sectors.
  • Maybe, but they could be lossing their way in the business model that give them real money: Advertisement.
    MyTube! The way it works right now make google lose money.
    They aren't very smart now, they only have the power, but a lot of power without brain take you to nowhere (as Microsoft in the past, they learned in the hard way, i believe google will go down in the same road).
  • Surprised they don't try and force the app to be removed for bypassing the ads. Would be awful if that happened but this is Google who forced MS to remove their own YouTube app for WP8.1 previously. Just seems like the kind of thing they would do
  • Because the audience is paltry. There's a reason the Windows App store is a barren landfill.  Until there's a sizeable audience, and a noticeable revenue stream to be had, there's little reason for Google to employ a bunch of people to officially develop and support apps for the platform beyond the web container they currently use.  Google knows what percent of their users are using Xbox/Windows Mobile platform to access Youtube (non-mobile Windows 10 doesn't really matter, since a webrowser with adblock and user prefered extensions is already the best experience). The lack of support beyond a web wrapper pretty much assures that percent is miniscule. 
  • The one thing I disagree with is that the web browser is the best experience. I'd love to have even the Xbox version of YouTube on my laptop. But that's obviously just my opinion.
  • Looking good. Wonder if Google will eventually shut these apps down or at the very least force them to serve up their ads?
  • Possibly, Google are evil like that.
  • I'd agree if they simply forced them to shut the app down that that would fall under the "evil" category. If they required them to start serving up ads though, that's just a sound business decision. Really a win win for them. Don't have to worry about developing an app and getting to collect on ad revenue. I really don't understand why they haven't taken this approach already... Don't get me wrong though, I much prefer not having to see ads 😎....
  • How is it evil? YouTube's main revenue source is ads, and this cuts off that revenue source. Server space isn't free.
  • But content creators need to be rewarded.. If you disable ads you are robbing them not Google.. That's why I have adblock but keep it off until I face an offending site
  • I don't think its any different than people recording Sky or Virgin TV and fast forwarding adverts. Pretty much anyone I know doesn't watch live TV unless its sport. They fast forward their recordings through the adverts. Even the official TV channel apps like ITVhub On Xbox One you can bypass adverts. When adverts start you just exit the Show your watching and reenter. It continues from after the adverts.
  • Wow, that's amazing!
  • YouTube apps is one area where Windows is destroying other OSes.
  • Twitch apps too.
  • Unstream needs to come to Xbox One
  • 6tag?
  • I always prefered Perfect Tube over myTube, as it is free and just as good. Ads are the only bad thing though
  • I got myTube for free once..through some offer
  • Think it was myAppFree, not sure.
  • I used to love MyTube but recently is nothing but a mess, used it on my former 1520, a windows 10 running Dell 14z, a brand new galaxy tab pro s, and my 1st gen surface Rt, it is not reliable in any of those, videos never load correctly and it is a pain to watch in hd, it always seem to outrun the buffered video. Btw my bandwidth is not the problem
  • This has been my goto youtube app for some years now on all my windows devices all the way from WP. What got me hooked has always been the fluidity of the interface and controls right from day one. Also a very dedicated developer as well. No surprise if it eventually becomes the No.1 youtube app on Xbox
  • I simply can't reply to comments, or like them..it's like the comments section is useless..just that it lets you post comments..and not much of settings or customisation is available in myTube beta
  • The ads don't bother me. What bothers me is when I'm in the middle of watching a video in the YouTube app, an ad plays, it finishes or I skip it and it tries to go back to the video, only it won't reload the video and all I get is a black screen with the swirling dots. Closing it out and trying to restart the video or shutting down the app and restarting it does nothing. Drives me up the wall. The only thing I've found to work reliably is to open the video on my Surface and start playing it where I left off, go back to the Xbox and restart the app and the video. If I have to do all that, I may as well just watch it on my Surface. The YouTube app on Xbox is just jacked up and worthless.
  • I've experienced this occasionally as well. Very rare but it happens.
  • I have Mytube! beta on all my devices.
  • Thats what Google gets for neglecting the Windows platform...
  • Yes! They didn't count on third party developers creating better options than they EVER could.
  • Honestly, we're better off that Google ignores us. Because they day they pay any real attention, bye bye 3rd party apps. Which totally destroy android/ios apps.
  • I love MyTube! It works perfectly in Continuum.
  • I got tube cast on my phone and played around with it but it's just as easy to go right to the YouTube site, so that's what I do. Don't really need an app. I think MyTube is free on Windows Phones. I'll try it.
  • I've had it on Xbox for about 4 months. It needed tweaking alot. So stopped using it. I'll check it out again. But yeah Accuweather, Photos, Maps, OneDrive are all some great UWP apps I use on Xbox regularly. There's hundreds of apps in the UK for Xbox One. So much better than Smart TVs.
  • On Google. They are terrible. Even their search engine now is really bad. You search for something and the first 10 things are adverts nothing to do with your search. Gmails a mess compared to Outlook/live/hotmail and even their Maps on Android has less features than Maps on Bing or Lumia 950 stock. They are just a nasty company with competition.
  • I'd like to add that Google stinks. I purchase my first Android tablet. Several months later I found out that Google removed the ability for any device running that latest version of Android to use micro SD cards.   It looks like Windows 10 tablets and phone are the only devices able to use micro SD cards.   My next tablet will be a Windows 10.
  • And you can run any Android app on a Full Windows 10 tablet if you really must.
  • My Tube isa great alternatives app that I use, but lately I have been using tube cast and I actually like it better. Any who It's nice that UWP apps are getting traction after a solid year of release. Developers are seeing the benefits!
  • Been looking forward to this. Hope they allow you to sort comments.
  • Microsoft should become uninterested in providing Google with any sort of compatibility with Windows. See how long it takes for Google to suddenly come around.
  • I think these platform need each other and let us consumers choose what we like, than giving us few options, iOS, android, WM10 both are good OS out there, if only they play nice to each other
  • How exactly would they do that?
  • 4K support at Xbox One S?
  • Yes it does. It has 4K support.
  • My tube is almost unusable because it doesn't show the upload date on videos when searching. I dont want to see 4 year old videos when I'm searching for a tutorial for a piece of software for example.
  • I saw on reddit this was something he was working on.
  • Been using this one since Lazyworm Applications Ltd. are no longer updating their MetroTube apps. I hope Chris/Ryken Apps can make a Twitter client as well lol , I would love to give it a try :)
  • While the introduction to this video is clever, I think it's inappropriate.  I know I wouldn't want my app associated with busting someone's balls.  Personally, I think it's funny, and it doesn't offend me in any way.  However, I can imagine a parent or someone interested in getting this app on the XBox for their kid, watching the first few seconds, and stopping it.  I think just having it shoot the "You Tube character" in the abdomen would have been equally as fun, without any possibility (for the most part) of offending a parent or other person.
  • Yes! Very happy about this as I hate the YouTube app on xbox
  • What is the best way to contact this dev with bugs?
  • MyTube is also available on Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 8.1. It was also available on Windows Phone 8.0 but it might not be anymore.
  • Great intro
  • It's a nice app. I don't like too much the blurry effect when a video is highlighted as it makes it more difficult to see the image. I hope another option will soon be available. I would like to see more options to cast videos from one device to another
  • As nice at it looks, it's not going to "destroy" anything. Here's the first thing this does NOT do: cross-platform viewing.   The official YouTube app allows us to start viewing a video say on the browser and when we go to the Xbox YouTube app, resume from where we left of. That's something MyTube can't do. And unlike those sad people still clinging to Windows Phones (all 3 of them), most of us on Android and iOS are already used to have a good YouTube app that works seemlessly cross-platform. MyTube is a Windows app and restricted, therefore, to those few people who: 1 - Still use Windows Phones (lol) 2 - Actually use Windows Store apps 3 - Don't use YouTube on Windows as normal people do, through Chrome (or another browser).   The app is great, I won't even question that. But it's not going to destroy anything. Not even pose a threat to it. Which is good, otherwise Google might actually shut it down.
  • I'm one of the three WP users left and proud of it :-) I agree with you this app is a great app, but it won't destroy YouTube. Cross-platform viewing is nice, but watching a video without commercial interruptions is even nicer. If MyTube becomes too popular and a threat, I agree with you YouTube will shut it down or make it put ads back. I will enjoy MyTube for as long as I can and I'm very appreciative of its continued support for Windows.
  • No offense, I've used many YouTube apps better than the official YouTube app on Android. The Android official app is NOT the best.
  • Relax! mister. Calma.
  • Is it better then Client for YT?
  • So great, can't wait!!
  • This is brilliant !!! but still no 4k or even 2k support for youtube on the XBOX one S. Something is not right somewhere even the edge browser on the console do not support this.  Either the console hardware cant support it... or Google is doing something either way we need some answers from MS.
  • Don't think MS need to answer anything. The One S has the hardware for 4K. It's down to the app developers. Netflix and Amazon apps both do 4K. Bluray app does 4K. Etc etc.
  • Hyper for YouTube is even better.
  • As of this week Awesome tube is also working perfectly fine. And it's light years ahead of the official app. The only issue is the scaling. Don't like how it looks when u go through a channel's videos.other than that is amazing. Till last week it was a mess and barely opening if ever.
  • Great to know. I will now go back to it on Xbox One S. Thanks.
  • After reading this post, just bought this app for my Surface Book. Happy to support developers who invest into Windows 10 apps
  • Also DJCBS you really have issues with Microsoft in a massive way. Every time I read a post from yourself it's very negative.
  • I use myTube (not the beta) on my W10 phone. I can long press a video and add it to my watch later playlist. On playlists, I can long press and remove videos from the list. I assume this is something that can be done in the beta version on phone as well. What I'm curious about, is there a way to do this from the app on Xbox or PC without starting the video first? I've tried pressing all the buttons to no avail. It'd be nice if there was a button for bringing up quick options like there is on tiles on your Xbox home screen using the menu button. I also feel like the controls and commands using the controller need to be refined a bit before this is ready for prime time. Other than that, it's a fantastic app. Thoughts on controls (some of these are currently how the app works):
    1. Right and left bumper to jump to the next video if viewing a playlist.
    2. Left and right triggers to skip 10-30 seconds.
    3. View button to go PiP while watching a video or back to full screen video from PiP. Also move PiP from bottom right to bottom left so it doesn't cover up other videos.
    4. Menu button to bring up the menu on the right while watching a video, brings up quick options for videos while on the main screen. Quick options like adding or removing from playlist, saving, others?
    5. Standard buttons, A=select on main screen/quick pause/play while viewing, B=stops video and goes back to previous menu, Y=quick search, X=? Left thumbstick=navigation/bring up playback options while viewing, Right thumbstick=fast scrubbing Wishlist:
    Ability to organize and reorder playlist videos.
    Make continuous play an option. (is there a setting for this somewhere that I missed? I have a tendency to fall asleep while watching late at night and I don't need it to always continue playing) Again, some of this may already be in the app and I just haven't figured out how to access it or use the controls properly. A more in depth video on what each button does in each screen may be warranted.  
  • Awesome tube is better than this
  • Awesome tube on Xbox is terrible. It's on Xbox but the developer has made it so you have to use a Cursor. My tube on Xbox one is literally the best Youtube app on any TV device. Including SmartTVs, PlayStation the lot. Xbox Ones apps are coming on really strong. And are leading the way over all other TV set top boxes and Smart TVs for amount, functionality and speed.
  • Mytube beta is the best app on wm it supports background playback and works smoothly than awesome tube
  • Dear Developer, THANK YOU!!
  • If this app does 4k AND support HDR video just like the youtube app on my Samsung. I watch alot of HDR from HDR CHANNEL so i'd switch to this app if it can?
  • It's only Windows 10 I believe. And wow just downloaded on Lumia 950. Truly a seriously amazing accomplishment. It's a beautiful modern app that is fast and full of features. It does ultra HD and hdr. Now to install on my Xbox.
  • Wow. I just installed on my Lumia 950. What an amazing app. It's super fast, super detailed for settings. And seems to run flawlessly. Really impressed. The best I've ever seen YouTube look on any device. Well Done Ryken. Well done.
  • Awesome! The only store app that I constantly use on my PC or Laptop is MyTube! Prior to that it was MetroTube which is also another amazing app however I found that when Youtube makes back end changes it affects MetroTube alot more than it does MyTube. Which is really odd then again I don't know how either of the devs are tapping into Youtube so I can't say much on that front.  
  • When i play anything in 4k and or with hdr on mytube beta my whole screen is Green. Everything else is working in 4k hdr on the console. Why.....netflix,games all ok. Wtf
  • Based on this article I installed the beta on my Xbox One. The official YouTube app is way better than the current myTube beta in terms of navigation and layout.