Google is said to be working on Mosaic Mode, which will enable YouTube TV viewers in the US to enjoy up to four simultaneous streams on the same screen.
The potential new feature of the US-only live TV service, which was reported in Pass Through Protocol this week, would be a great option for sports fans. It will also watch YouTube TV to match FuboTV’s popular Multiview feature.
If you’re a sports fan who’s used to watching one live game on your best TV, another on a tablet, and a third on your laptop, you’ll be able to improve one game with Mosaic Mode, if and when it launches.
It would be ideal, for example, to tune into Sunday NFL early kickoffs on different channels, or NCAA college football games on Saturdays. Meanwhile, if a live English Premier League match conflicts with either, you don’t have to choose which one you want to watch on main TV. Grab some wings and a beer on the go, it’s like an afternoon at your favorite sports bar, just without the noisy, noisy New Yorkers cheering for planes.
The feature is claimed to divide the screen into four parts with a channel each, which is great if you have a large screen at home. Users should be able to change the audio feed by highlighting different parts of the screen.
The report says: “Finally, YouTube is also looking to update the YouTube TV service with some new features. Chief among them: YouTube TV will get something called Mosaic Mode, which will allow subscribers to watch up to four live channels at the same time by dividing the TV screen into quarters.”
FuboTV’s multi-viewing feature was launched for Apple TV users in the fall of 2020 and has recently improved with the addition of a scoreboard that can quickly add games directly to Multiview. Sony’s PlayStation Vue streaming service – which was somewhat of a pioneer as a live TV streaming service in the US – also featured multiple shows.
The main focus of the report is the proposal to roll out YouTube shorts for smart TV platforms, with better support for YouTube Music as well.