Originally the Xbox One X and S both had the built-in capability to allow you to watch 4K video, but the consoles themselves didn’t have a way to do it. Until now, that is. This week, Microsoft is rolling out the YouTube app for the XBox One X console that provides support for 4K videos at up to 60 fps. But not HDR. The Xbox One S update is on the way, also. However, you’re going to have to wait for it. This might not actually do a lot for the XBox One X, but it might enhance the Xbox One S console. Why the S only? Well, it doesn’t allow for 4K gaming but does provide the upscale graphic that supports HDR. Side note – both are worth it if you’re in the market for a new console. Adding this feature definitely enhances the consoles.
Microsoft made a big deal about supporting 4K Blu-ray content when it announced the updated Xbox One consoles in August 2016, but that support didn’t extend to streaming services like YouTube. In order to watch 4K content, you had to wait for Google to update YouTube to support 4K content. But Google wasn’t in any rush to roll out support. And honestly, why would they be? Users had to wait nearly a year and a half for the update to come through, but it finally has.
The app comes about a year after the release of the XBox One S. If you’ve got one of these two consoles, you should consider downloading the app. Downloading the app is relatively easy.
- Go all the way to the right on the Xbox One dashboard. (It’s quicker when you press the RB button on your controller a few times.)
- Select Apps.
- Find the YouTube App. (You can also check out which apps are featured, popular, or new.)
- If you see something you like, select the app and press A on your controller.
- Read the description of the app and view its images. If you like it, press the Install button.
- That’s it! You can press and hold the Xbox button on your controller when the download finishes to quickly launch the app.
Next time you want to open the application, you can select “My Games & Apps” from the dashboard. For faster access, you can pin it to the dashboard. To do this, press the menu button on your controller and select “Pin to Home”. Judging from the reviews so far for the latest YouTube update, it appears that most Xbox owners who have tried out the new app so far were pleasantly surprised with the update.
This is good news though as a lot more TVs and monitors have 4K resolution. So why not move in this direction? You have always been able to use the YouTube app, however, it didn’t support the 4K resolution. This means the video quality is going to look pretty amazing. Which also means, this is going to get well used. YouTube on XBox isn’t a new concept, but rather this update is going to give people an enhancement that wasn’t previously there.