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Richard, I saw your conversation with Graham Turner‍ but he covered most of the points except some specific points you raised in this post.


Many (but not all) Smart TVs do include a YouTube application and generally you can use that without any login and you can search for any YouTube content via the search capabilities that it provides, but any character input is via an onscreen keyboard. Some Smart TVs do support bluetooth keyboards for text entry. I would even say some do support USB keyboards, but the support is not universal as this depends not on YouTube but on the TV manufacturer supporting keyboards. Note not having the '/' I would have to check, but I see no reason why you need it as YouTube is just an standalone app run on the TV and is not a web browser so you do not need to enter any URLs which is the only thing I would believe would need that symbol for.


However this is not the main approach to consumption, as they do offer the ability to login to YouTube so you have access to any of the subscriptions or search history that is associated with your login - which is a 'Google' enabled login. Then all you need to do is 'subscribe' to the channel (which is free) and it will be available everywhere you watch YouTube with your login. You set this up on any mobile phone, tablet or PC and then use the same account on the TV. This is free, there is no cost. YouTube TV is an entirely separately service that just happens to be added to your 'Google' enabled login and is not available outside of the US. There is a paid tier of YouTube called YouTube Premium which cuts the adverts and gives you offline video playback. YouTube also offers some premium content on a transactional basis, such as movies. All of this is via a Freemium model.


There are two ways to login, one is via entering the details via the remote but also there is an approach where you can login on a phone/web browser and 'pair' your account to your TV YouTube app. This makes it much easier and there are instuctions available online to be able to do this and the app on the TV generally will take you through this if you select the login option.


An additional way to use Youtube is to 'Cast' from your phone or web browser to the TV, which uses your account directly. For this you use the built-in YouTube app on the TV, or you can have an enhanced experience by having either a Chromecast device connected to the TV or you can get the same feature through an Android TV STB that you can buy from man places such as from NVIDIA or from Mi. In other words you could do it now by just buying one of these devices for £30 - https://store.google.com/gb/product/chromecast


Casting is not particularly complex as long as you have an Android or Apple mobile phone provided in the last four or five years and the relevant YouTube App on phone and TV, and you have some understanding of the name that the TV is on your network that would automatically show up in the 'Cast to' dialogue.


Does this help?

Richard, I saw your conversation with Graham Turner‍ but he covered most of the points except some specific points you raised in this post.


Many (but not all) Smart TVs do include a YouTube application and generally you can use that without any login and you can search for any YouTube content via the search capabilities that it provides, but any character input is via an onscreen keyboard. Some Smart TVs do support bluetooth keyboards for text entry. I would even say some do support USB keyboards, but the support is not universal as this depends not on YouTube but on the TV manufacturer supporting keyboards. Note not having the '/' I would have to check, but I see no reason why you need it as YouTube is just an standalone app run on the TV and is not a web browser so you do not need to enter any URLs which is the only thing I would believe would need that symbol for.


However this is not the main approach to consumption, as they do offer the ability to login to YouTube so you have access to any of the subscriptions or search history that is associated with your login - which is a 'Google' enabled login. Then all you need to do is 'subscribe' to the channel (which is free) and it will be available everywhere you watch YouTube with your login. You set this up on any mobile phone, tablet or PC and then use the same account on the TV. This is free, there is no cost. YouTube TV is an entirely separately service that just happens to be added to your 'Google' enabled login and is not available outside of the US. There is a paid tier of YouTube called YouTube Premium which cuts the adverts and gives you offline video playback. YouTube also offers some premium content on a transactional basis, such as movies. All of this is via a Freemium model.


There are two ways to login, one is via entering the details via the remote but also there is an approach where you can login on a phone/web browser and 'pair' your account to your TV YouTube app. This makes it much easier and there are instuctions available online to be able to do this and the app on the TV generally will take you through this if you select the login option.


An additional way to use Youtube is to 'Cast' from your phone or web browser to the TV, which uses your account directly. For this you use the built-in YouTube app on the TV, or you can have an enhanced experience by having either a Chromecast device connected to the TV or you can get the same feature through an Android TV STB that you can buy from man places such as from NVIDIA or from Mi. In other words you could do it now by just buying one of these devices for £30 - https://store.google.com/gb/product/chromecast


Casting is not particularly complex as long as you have an Android or Apple mobile phone provided in the last four or five years and the relevant YouTube App on phone and TV, and you have some understanding of the name that the TV is on your network that would automatically show up in the 'Cast to' dialogue.


Does this help?