Google is reportedly working on a Mosaic Mode, which would enable YouTube TV viewers in the United States to enjoy four concurrent streams on the same display.
The potential new feature for the US-only live TV service, reported in passing by Protocol this week, would be a great option for sports fans. It would also see YouTube TV to match up to FuboTV’s popular Multiview feature.
If you’re a sports nut used to watching one live game on your best TV, another on a tablet, and a third on the laptop, you’ll reportedly be able to go one better with Mosaic Mode, if and when it launches.
It’d be ideal, for example, for tuning into the early NFL Sunday kickoffs on various channels, or NCAA college football games on Saturdays. Meanwhile, if a live Premier League game clashes with either, you don’t have to choose which to watch on your main TV. Get some wings and beers on the go, and it’s just like an afternoon in your favourite sports bar, only without the annoying, loud New Yorkers cheering for the Jets.
Purportedly, the feature will split the screen into four quadrants with a channel for each, which is great if you have a large screen in the home. Presumably, users would be able to change the audio feed by highlighting different segments of the display.
The report says: “Finally, YouTube is also looking to update its YouTube TV service with a few new features. Chief among them: YouTube TV will gain something called Mosaic Mode, which will allow subscribers to watch up to four live feeds at the same time by dividing the TV screen into quadrants.”
FuboTV’s multiview feature launched for Apple TV users in the autumn of 2020 and it recently got better with the addition of a scoreboard that can quickly add live games to Multiview. Sony’s now-defunct PlayStation Vue streaming service – which was somewhat of a pioneer as a live tv streaming service in the US – also included multiview.
The main focus of the report is the suggestion YouTube Shorts are coming to smart TV platforms, with better support for YouTube Music too.
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