Vizio SmartCast TV owners no longer need two apps for YouTube and YouTube TV

Vizio’s SmartCast TV line has been going after the streaming-first crowd since day one. Surprising, then, that support for YouTube TV was a little stop-start. At least initially when you had to "cast" it over from your phone. Then a native app appeared — and subsequently disappeared, before... reappearing? Things are changing again, with the news that YouTube’s paid-for live TV service will now be accessible via the main YouTube app. For now, it looks like the update will only be coming to Vizio’s 2020 (and newer) lineup.

This isn’t the first time the TV service has been nested within the main YouTube app. Just last month Google did the same thing for Roku users. Except, that was more about skirting Roku’s removal of the TV app after a dispute about "preferential treatment". It seems that Google’s smart workaround wasn’t just a sneaky way to circumvent Roku’s attempts at restrictions. It’s just a logical way to access the paid-for service without having two apps on your home screen.