Apple TV and Fire TV devices get surround sound support for YouTube TV
You can now enjoy surround sound while streaming YouTube TV content on your Apple TV and Fire TV devices. As The Verge reports, the streaming television service has expanded the list of devices supporting its shows and movies with 5.1 audio after rolling out the capability to Android TV, Google TV and Roku devices back in June. YouTube TV first started testing 5.1 channel audio for those first three devices back in March, while also promising to work on support for Apple TV and Fire TV devices, as well as for gaming consoles. This rollout covers two out of those three — a tweet on the official YouTube TV page says the service is still in the process of bringing the capability to consoles.
5.1 Audio Update! ???????????? We now support 5.1 audio on Apple TV & Fire TV devices for compatible YouTube TV content (live, DVR, & video on-demand).
— YouTube TV (@YouTubeTV) September 6, 2022
If you’re a game console user, we’re working on getting this available to you as soon as possible, and will share live updates here. pic.twitter.com/8Pmxrt1WqU
The Help page for YouTube TV doesn't explicitly mention Apple TV as a supported device yet, but it does list the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Stick Lite, Fire TV Cube, Fire TV Stick 4K and Fire TV Stick with 4K Ultra HD. To note, surround sound isn't available for all YouTube TV content, only those that have it. So long as a user is streaming on a compatible device, 5.1 audio will be automatically switched on. That said, those who want to make sure that it's available for a specific video can do so by playing it, going to "More" under player controls and selecting the "bug" icon. YouTube TV's "Stats for nerds" will be displayed at the top of the video, and it should show AC-3/EAC-3 in the codecs section if it has surround sound.