Multiview finally debuts on YouTube but there's a huge catch

It's been in testing for some time now but YouTube is finally starting to roll out its Multiview service, although there is a good chance that you won't actually be able to use it.

Multiview on YouTube TV is something that has been in testing for months and it's now starting to roll out for those who are subscribed to the WNBA Primetime Channel. The subscription gives people access to streaming via the YouTube interface, with the new Multiview implementation giving people the chance to watch up to four games at the same time.

However, the Multiview offering will only be available on smart TVs as well as via streaming sticks like the Amazon Fire devices and, of course, Chromecast. However, there will be no launch of Multiview support for those watching on the web or the mobile apps and it isn't clear if that is something that is going to change at any point.

It's also worth noting that there is another hiccup to consider in terms of Multiview support. As 9to5Google notes, YouTube is still curating what's available in Multiview so viewers aren't able to pick what games they want to watch. It's an interesting approach and we can't say that it's one we're on board with. In fact, we'd argue that it isn't really true multiview if you can't choose what to actually view, but maybe that's just us.

Thankfully, YouTube does say that it intends to work to improve the product's flexibility in the future so we can perhaps expect that limitation to go the way of the dodo in the future.