Now can they work on (in no particular order) -
Honestly the last app was a joy to use. I can't really bring myself to use YouTube on my TV in this state, it's just off-putting. I wonder if any UX guys were involved here, because it really doesn't feel like it.
I know this one change isn't going to make everyone that is upset about the new app happy, but it does mean they are at least listening to the negative feedback.
I had to roll back updates and disable auto-updates because of this. Without being able to login to my brand account, I can't access subs/faves/playlists etc.
Just for a bit of perspective I actually really disliked the previous app, it had so many UI problems that the universal app fixes. Ok it doesn't look as nice but functionally it works better imo.
The fact that you have Netflix style navigation through a video is a great win.
When a video is playing and you press down on the remote you can actually have time to read the titles of suggested videos instead of them disappearing in a few seconds.
When a YouTube channel is ok suggestions you have the option of going into someone's channel without having to play the video first.
Thumbnails load consistently.
The one annoyance I have is the subscription list, who in their right mind thought yes that is the way to display a really long list. No one will mind having to spend half a day scrolling through their list of 100s of subscriptions.
Wish they'd just update the old app instead. I really hate the leanback site, it's slow and ugly. Really makes me think they're giving up on Android TV if their biggest first party app is getting turned into the same thing as the Xbox 360 app.