Video: How To Watch YouTube And Browse The Web On Your Nintendo Switch

Hopefully Nintendo will make a proper and well executed browser for the Switch at some point in the near future—alongside getting a wonderfully realised Virtual Console on there too, plus Apps like Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu, and all the other obvious and genuinely useful and enjoyable stuff that's missing on the barebones system right now. The Switch is a genuinely cool system with a crap load of potential, but I think it really needs all of this kind of standard 2017 stuff to truly shine and properly live up to that huge potential.

Eh ?
Wanna watch some videos from Youtube inside Nintendo Switch and I wanna show it to other people.

@Switch81tch Not quite. I use browse the internet mostly on my laptop, but my small TV has only one HDMI port so when I want to watch something I need to change between Switch and laptop, which is kinda annoying. With browser available on Switch that would make life much easier.

You got problems if you need to get on the web this much with your Switch.

Browsers on gaming consoles are meh. Now, if you got Netflix or Crunchyroll working, then that's another story. Not that its terribly important or anything considering I can use my PS4 for all that, but it would be nice to not have to

Forget all that! I just assume wait for whatever Nintendo comes up with.

Well, there goes the security reason not to have a web browser, I wonder how much time will pass before clients to connect the Switch to PCs to dump and replace files start to appear for the Switch as well (admittedly, they made modding and data mining way easier).

I hope if they do implement a browser and YouTube and what not there's an option to disable them. I really don't want all that rubbish clogging up my system.

This is really cool and I might try it someday, but in the meantime I'd rather wait for Nintendo to release something officially.

i'm just here for "Hello there lovely people"

You know you're desperate when you tell people to subscribe by using the unofficial Nintendo Switch browser

@mateq get a hdmi switcher. They are cheap and you can connect 3-4 hdmi via 1

So... you can browse the internet on your Switch but you need a computer (which obviously has a browser) in your network to actually be able to use it. Seems a bit counterproductive. Or at least redundant.

Well, they should've given us a browser.

@impurekind kinda sounds like the Wii U back in 2012. That turned out well, I feel.

If you need a laptop with internet access to do it, that renders it pretty redundant don't you think?

I think the Wii U had one of the better browsers for a console, so I trust Nintendo to make a good one for the Switch.

Add enough useful apps and the Switch might be my go-to tablet on top of my go-to handheld. That would be great, seriously, imagine if this would compatible with Google Play store.

So... you can browse the internet on your Switch but you need a computer (which obviously has a browser) in your network to actually be able to use it. Seems a bit counterproductive. Or at least redundant.

Have you tried taking your computer monitor into the bathroom with you? I don't have a tablet and my PC is broken right now so I use my Wii U Game Pad to browse the internet. I also take the Game Pad into the bath with me (not into the water obviously) so I can watch videos while in the bath.

Lets see I can use browser on 3 laptops, 1 desktop, 1 ipad, 2 phones. wii u. 3ds and roku. And why do I need a browser on switch..

@EternalDragonX You got problems if you don't need to get on the web this much with your Switch.

It's a matter of choice.

Meh switch don't need a browser, everyone has phones, tablets, other consoles, pcs and laptops do we really need another? ... Make it like the GameCube! Just games nothing else!

Our Wii U is not allowed to be used for Netflix. That's why we have a smart tv. It's a gaming console. I'm ok with switch never getting these apps as long as it has a great library of games. Zelda will keep me content for months while lots of great games come out. I have my iPhone for doing this.

I'll wait for somethin' official, but I appreciate this! Thanks anyway. My smartphone is practically on me at all times, anyway.

That browser is bad but then again it is outdated. I'd really like youtube and netflix on it so i don't have to use my xbox at all anymore. Also pandora please. I like to have music on and hang out also.

@Bass_X0 fair, I use a laptop but I realize that not everyone does. Still seems like few people will go through this trouble for the feature, especially considering who pays $300 for a launch console yet doesn't have any other mobile device with internet browsing capabilities? I suppose someone out there does, but given how awful this "browser" is and how much work it takes to exploit, it seems like little more than a novelty. At best just a foothold for hackers. But to each their own.

"Just like a real tablet!"

"but hey - YouTube on your Switch, guys!"

Every time i read something here I get this "retroooooooo" echo sound ... youtube, wohoooo .. time to open up the champagne, everyone. Revolutionary times for all getting to know youtube.

EDIT: Reminds me of whats missing! It would be great to get the Atari 2600 compilation on one card. Switch-tax aside, still for 40-50$ (spread in 3 volumes and one 99$ Amiibo Atari pack), Im sure it would be a smash hit. Would love to play Centipede with the Joy-Cons... was waiting for it.

The beginning of the video...lol!

@Switch81tch You can argue against anything with that kind of logic. Why buy Zelda on the Switch for portability? Just wait until you're at home in front of the Wii U or carry the entire system around instead. It's about convenience.

@Switch81tch But what if one wants to use Switch as a mobile only. Let's say he doesn't care about smart devices, but he wants to play the mobile shovelware with Zelda on the go.
That's when the browser comes in handy - because you're getting all-in-one device.

@Switch81tch Fair, but first of all, why would I watch stuff on my laptop, if my TV is bigger? Second, I partially agree, I could get a HDMI adaptor, but I can imagine myself looking for videos I want to watch in handheld mode using the touch screen and then just switch to TV mode. I'm not saying it's necessary, however it would certainly be a great feature.

And honestly, your reasons for NOT wanting a browser on Switch are rather weak as well

@Switch81tch No—and such thinking is why people in companies sometimes make these genuinely idiotic decisions to not include stuff that almost everyone would appreciate to some degree and get plenty of use and fun out of. Hence [currently] no browser, no movie streaming services, no Virtual Console, and no whatever the hell else on Switch right now—because some moron thought this kind of stuff wasn't particularly important (at least not at launch).

@BigBadJohn Yeah, I think these kinds of things should be OPTIONAL Apps that individual users can choose to download or not. That, to me, is the best of both worlds: People who want a nice, clean, and gaming only system don't have to bother with clogging up the system with random stuff they'll never use, but other people who actually want all these extra features and the extra functionality can simply download any appropriate Apps for it (web app, Netflix App, etc). It just makes good sense to handle it exactly like that imo. Only basically a way to play games and get to the eShop (to download any additional Apps and features you want) should be included by default for the most part imo. So, hopefully Nintendo is thinking similarly. BUT, all the other stuff still really should have been available to download from day one—like the Virtual Console for example—that was just a big fail on Nintendo's part as far as I'm concerned.

Yes, Nintendo should add to the Switch a web browser, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube app, Netflix, Hulu, Shmulu, all sorts of crap, yes. What? What is that? The next Zelda quality game will be delayed indefinitely while they work on that? 🤔

I want a browser and apps like YT, Hulu, Prime Video, Netflix, GO, Kindle e-reader because why not and because I will use them. I actually wrote this and the saves transfers and a few other stuff like virtual console, unify account system on Nintendo's lastest survey that was sent to Switch users.

We have to take that opportunity and speak our minds. I also ask for Metroid Prime 4.

@dumedum Nintendo's first party game developers don't make the 3rd party apps. And even then they have multiple teams.

@Paddle1 not true... they have a lot of coordination stuff, sessions, meetings, planning how to fit into the GUI and so. All a big waste.

@dumedum These 3rd party apps are clearly not as good as Nintendo's implementations so I'd guess they play a small role in them. The New 3DS and Wii U browser are better for YouTube than their respective apps. Certainly nothing they can't handle. They're always working on multiple things at once.

@Paddle1 that's your assumption without knowledge. For all we know,. Nintendo staff could be collapsing under the pressure of what they have to produce, and any waste of time could lead to Mario Odyssey being thrown to 2021. It might for example require resources way beyond their capabilities to release this year and they have to cut anything and everything even plausible and redundant.

@dumedum Your assumption isn't any more valid and is quite unrealistic for a huge corporation like Nintendo. They've done it for Wii, 3DS, and Wii U already. Remember the 3DS and Wii didn't launch with these things either. Also there are Iwata Asks about this stuff so there is information about how they do these things. You're making up a reason to deny people something they really want. Reggie has already confirmed they're coming anyway.

@Paddle1 I'm not assuming anything. Iwata Asks etc is PR. If you have a specific example that you think proves your point, you can show it. But you don't. All we know is that Nintendo is choosing to focus on games right now, and that's a good thing in my opinion, and gamers should be thankful for that. The fact they will be coming later when they have more time and less urgency exactly supports this conclusion and only this conclusion.

@dumedum True they are focusing on the bare essentials. That doesn't mean it wouldn't be nice to have it do the same things my Wii U does so I can completely replace it.

@Donutman Good for you? Thanks for your opinion, king master of all that he sees. The rest of us will be fine with more options.

@aGeorgeDivided a year later and switch is still doing great without these apps. I guess if it did have the apps, maybe you would have better things to do then troll year old threads. But then again, it would just be easier for you to make rude comments having another device with a browser.

I don't have a phone or anything to browse the web for when I an out of the house or if I just want to be on the couch so this would really help. right now I am on my computer.