I’ve been searching for ways on how to setup the YouTube TV Queuing functionality with Apple TV so I can use it for karaoke. Unfortunately, my search has been in vain. There is no direct way of getting the Apple TV do the YouTube TV Queue but in this post, I’ll share a workaround that you can do. Apple and Google (who owns YouTube) are not known to be friends – well of course, since they are competitors. So it should not be a surprise that the full YouTube functionalities can not be experienced in the Apple TV.
What is the YouTube TV Queue?
The TV Queue is an on the fly list of videos in YouTube that automatically plays the next video on the list when the current one ends. When you select a video in YouTube, you can choose to play it now or to add it to your TV Queue. This TV Queue is very useful when doing karaoke. Specially if you use a Chromecast, anyone connected to your Chromecast device can add songs to your queue. The TV queue is different from a playlist – the TV queue list does not get saved, it is only created in your current session.
READ: How to set up Karaoke at Home using YouTube
If you do NOT have a Smart TV or any other TV device that has YouTube (such as Chromecast, Roku, Playstation 3 and 4, XBox 360, Xbox One, Wii U) but you have an Apple TV, you can still use it for Karaoke with a TV Queue that you can create manually. If you have a Smart TV or another TV device with YouTube, read How to connect YouTube to your TV.
How to Connect YouTube from your mobile device to your Apple TV
Mirroring YouTube to your TV
One of the strongest use of an Apple TV is its ability to mirror your iOS device such as an iPhone or an iPad to your Apple TV, regardless of the application you are using. Just turn on mirroring and whatever is on your iOS device screen will be duplicated on your TV instantly.
Using this method though means that you are limited with using one iOS device to select songs from YouTube and there’s no queuing functionality. Just pass this device around to your karaoke party guests to let them choose some songs.
Apple TV YouTube App – Using a Shared or Public YouTube Playlist to be queued in your TV
Even if the TV Queueing functionality is not built in to your Apple TV, you can manually set up a playlist and add songs to it as you go along. The playlist will automatically play the next song. However, you have to refresh the playlist for it to recognize that there is a new song added. Use the forward or backward buttons in your playlist after the current song ends to refresh your playlist.
Instructions
1 Open the YouTube App from your Apple TV and Sign In using the google account you plan to use.
Key in the activation code in your mobile device or computer.
Follow the instructions from this screen. Go to the web address indicated and enter the code displayed in your mobile device or computer.
In your mobile device or computer, you should be seeing this screen. Enter the code you see from your TV. Then you’re done!2 Create a public playlist that you can use for your karaoke party.
When you select a song, choose add to a new playlist. Click on the 3 vertical dots beside the song title and select Create a new playlist.
3 Add collaborators who can add videos to your playlist.
To enable your friends to add videos to your playlist, click on edit your Playlist and click on Collaborate.
Enable the option “Collaborators can add videos”. Click on the share button and send the link to anyone you’d like to be able to add videos to your playlist.
4 Add songs to your playlist.
You and your friends who have access to the playlist can add songs even when the playlist is playing. You can use your own devices to add songs to the public playlist.
5 Play the playlist in your Apple TV
Go to My YouTube from your Apple TV. Click on Play all so apple tv will play all the songs in order from your playlist.
This is how your playlist will look like from a mobile device. Even when the same playlist is playing in your Apple TV, you and your collaborators can add more songs.Unfortunately, adding songs in your playlist is not added real time to your Apple TV playlist. But there is a workaround. If you need to refresh the playlist with new songs added, just hit on Forward or Backward in your mobile device or computer. Browse through the songs in your playlist while this will also refresh the playlist and show any newly added songs.
This is the forward button in the mobile device. Use this to browse through the songs in your playlist and to force it to refresh and show newly added songs. When you hit forward from the last song, it will go to the first song, hitting backward from the first song will play the newly added song in your list.Now you have your YouTube TV Queue in your Apple TV! It may not be the same TV Queue you get from Chromecast or your other devices that has YouTube but it’s the closest you can get. If you want the best experience, for me, nothing beats using Chromecast. READ: How to create a Karaoke Setup using YouTube and Google Chromecast
Do you have other ways of making your Apple TV do the YouTube TV Queue? Share with us how you have done it in the comments below.
How can I get the sounds from TV to both the home threater speakers and the PA speakers (Ion Duo Pro) as well. I currently have just the microphones through PA and Tv sounds through home theatre. thanks
I actually have the same setup and prefer it. This way, the live active sound from the microphone will not ruin my home theater speakers which were not designed for it while at the same time enjoy the music on a good set of home theater speakers.
If you really want to output both music and mic to the same speakers then a mixer is required as indicated in this article.
Would the sounds be degraded If I were to use the Toslink + converter to get the sounds from TV to the old receiver (NO HDMI) or should I buy a HDMI capable receiver and use the HDMI cable to link between my Apple TV to Receiver?
Using HDMI would be best option, the old receiver uses analog connections still.