After updating my Apple TV to tvOS 18, it is not playing well with YouTube

It seems that YouTube and tvOS 18 is not handling HDR content properly. Switching to 4k SDR or just turning off the “Match Dynamic Range” setting seemed to fix this issue for me, but obviously am not able to watch YouTube content in HDR :(

I'm experiencing similar issues. When I select some videos the screen will turn black like it's going to play it, stay that way for a few seconds then kick me back out to the previous screen. Or, if I click to view a video the screen stays black and I have to click the back button to get back to the video selection screen. None of this started happening until Apple TV IOS 18.

Thank you all for letting me know that I was not alone in having trouble with YouTube on Apple TV 4K. I couldn’t find an answer from YouTube/Google -there didn’t even seem to be anything about it there. Should’ve looked here sooner.

I switched the video to 4K SDR and things seem to be okay. Thanks!!!

this helped me and seemed to resolve the problem specific to the YouTube app which also occurred after I upgraded to TVOs 18.

specific steps I performed in Apple TV settings:

• Open the Settings app in Apple TV.
• Select Video and Audio.
• Select Match Content.
• Set "Match Dynamic Range" to off.

I still think this is an App issue and will try to report it in the YouTube app on the device.

thanks

I was having the same problem. Turning of Match Dynamic Range in the in the video and audio settings fixed the issue. Thanks for the tip!

Yep getting the exact same issues. Complete PITA. Also on tvOS18

I'm glad others are having the same problem I'm having. I tried the change to 4K SDR and it works fine, although the image is poor compared to 4K Dolby Vision, which I've been using for years with the same HDMI cable. When I changed to 4K HDR, it gave me a warning message, "Apple TV is having trouble maintaining a stable HDMI connection. Check your connections and make sure you're using an ultra high-speed HDMI cable." I switched back to 4K Dolby Vision and it's working better but it still goes black when changing between youtube videos, which it never did before tvOS 18. There were times I could get the video to finally start but it would start halfway through the video. Of course, I can watch the same videos on my 2019 iMac and everything plays fine.

Same exact symptoms here with AppleTV 4K running TVOS 18.0.

The "Match Dynamic Range" workaround seems to perform much better but vids in HDR, etc. don't look as clear as they would when/if the feature were currently working.

This would be a show stopper for non-tech folks who simply encounter YouTube not working at all on AppleTV 4K. Hope it gets resolved soon.

Same is happening here. When I try to watch any NFL short game replays videos I never actually get to the video. It just constantly plays commercials. Any new videos I watch consistently are marked as if I have already watched them more than half way. I get kicked out youtube to the main Apple screen in the middle of watching a video. It has become a really unpleasant experience which sucks cause I watch youtube more than anything else. I hope u fix this cause this affects all Apple TV owners who updated to the new ios.

This was really helpful. It worked immediately I turned off dynamic matching in Settings. For anyone who doesn't know where to locate it, go to Settings on the Apple TV and click on Video and Audio>>>Match Content.

I now stream YouTube via the MacBook Pro has this has completely solved the issue for me , your issue is 1000000% identical to what I'm experiencing.

Exactly the same issue I'm having but only with youtube videos. I don't have problems viewing videos on any other AppleTV app so I see it as a youtube app issue.

Will be cancelling my sub to Youtube until this nonsense is sorted out by them. I’m not paying for vastly substandard offering them

Go to settings on Youtube app and submit feedback so Youtube can fix the app.