YouTube Doesn't Seem To Work In The Wii U Browser Anymore

It was bound to happen, I suppose. The website itself keeps moving forward, and the WiiU browser is stuck where it is.

I personally upgraded to a Fire TV stick for YouTube. To spare my gaming systems from becoming YouTube boxes.

I use my iPad personally. 😉

Used to use the Youtube app back in the day to put YT on my TV while I worked on the computer. Soon as my XBONE X came into my life, it was just miles better not just in functionality, but even on my HDTV the videos look so much better.

The beginning of the end.

I regularly use my Switch for YouTube much as I used to use my Wii U. It's much quicker to grab the Switch in the morning than it is to boot up my old PC. Yes, there are a lot of devices that can run streaming apps these days but having more options is not a bad thing.

My question here would be, why use the Wii U browser for YouTube instead of the app?

@Tasuki Because not everyone has those devices.

@Tasuki Haaaaaa Fooooooooooooooooooooool not everyone has a phone I use my switch to watch youtube. don't forget to buy a hat in time. (its me legendcoworker)

Wow this reminds me of the YouTube app for the Vita I used to use. Went from normal to only able to watch videos through recommendations while videos through searches wouldn't work, to dead.

Dang, I was playing around with the Wii U browser the other day to try YouTube and it was working fine. There was a notification on the YouTube page that stated "This browser will not be supported soon", so I guess that time has finally come...

And that's the only reason I still own an Xbox.

I put hundreds of hours into the wiiU YouTube app listening to music and drawing the album covers on miiverse

@Heavyarms55 "My question here would be, why use the Wii U browser for YouTube instead of the app?"

Not sure in recent years, but I used to watch youtube in the browser of the Wii U a lot a few years ago. It worked like a charm, a perfect solid video experience.

The app wasn't as solid. If I recall I gave it a shot, but from the search to how results were displayed to even the video player, the browser was just more user friendly and did everything better.
(again, speaking of a few years ago, though I doubt they updated much the app for the Wii U).

I used to use my wii U browser to watch YouTube all the time, when it came out it was the best way to watch it on my tv. I didn't like the app because you couldn't read comments, and the whole interface was just a little annoying to use.
With the wii u browser you could suspend a game, go to YouTube, watch a walkthrough if need be, then go right back into your game without skipping a beat. If you wanted to use the app you would have to completely close your game then open the YouTube app, watch, close, then restart your game. Just a hassle

@BakaKnight It's admittedly been several years since I used it, but I don't recall ever having any issues with it. Although I rarely search anything on YouTube and just watch the content uploaded from the channels I subscribe to. Like 95% sub content 5% searched stuff.

@Heavyarms55 For why you'd want to use the browser over the app, the app is super slow and clunky. Plus, with the browser, you could queue up a few videos in multiple tabs on the gamepad while having your first video playing on the tv. I still used it up until it stopped working because it's just way more convenient for trying to watch a bunch of videos in a row than any single screen format, or even Chromecast. Plus a lot of video sites' ads just didn't work on the Wii U browser and skipped right to the video, so it kind of has an accidental built-in ad block.

If you're still using a Wii U for this kind of thing you really aught to consider upgrading to something better.

@Heavyarms55 I use my switch to watch YouTube a lot because I always play in docked mode.

Oddly enough, youtube videos embedded on other sites still work fine, so the reason it stopped working has to do with the youtube website rather than the actual video format.

I don't need to watch TV on my game system anyway. I rarely ever used even my playstation systems for that. Nobody thought the NES or Snes should play VHS tapes.

Just upgrade to something.

@Zeldafan79 Actually I may be wrong, but I believe it was Playstation 2 that first had DVD support among consoles and largely started the trend of game consoles doubling as media devices. And the original Playstation supported music CDs too.

PS3 continued the trend adding Blue Ray support and apps like YouTube and these features have been big selling points.

@Zeldafan79 Asserts that nobody thought NES or SNES should play VHS tapes - but I contend that had that functionality existed, so long as it did not dramatically drive the price up, it would have been very popular. I know I would have liked it, the TV I used as a kid only had one AV port. I had to swap cords every time I wanted to watch a movie or play a game. And my parents wouldn't even let me leave my game console in the living room.

I remember in the 90s many AV switch boxes being released so that one did not have to plug and unplug game consoles and video players all the time. (in fact, I wish these worked as well for HDMI devices but that's a different rant)

I get that many people on a site like this are more hardcore gamers - but for the wider audience, having these additional functions are really nice. Not everyone can or wants to upgrade their electronics every few years. I've known people who saved for months or years to have the spare cash to afford a TV and game console and then that was their electronic toy for many years.

There's a lot of appeal to having a device that combines the function of games, videos and music together.

There's the additional convenience of having a single device under your TV instead of a game console, a movie player and a stereo.

Still a better browser than the Switch.

WiiU?
Why can't people just use their Nook for watching You Tube?

The YouTube app on Wii U is so bad despite looking similar to the modern app the Switch and others use.

The Wii U browser used to be my main way to watch YouTube and the dual screen experience was part of that. I now have an Amazon Firestick, PS4 and Switch which can fulfil these duties by pairing then with my phone. Glad I no longer have to rely on Wii U/Nintendo alone.

@Heavyarms55 Saturn could play video CDs with an upgrade, but since both video CDs and the Saturn itself were reportedly much more popular in Japan, the upgrade was only released there.
I think that might be the first (primarily) game console which could play movies.
(that is, arguing whether on not the CDi should be counted as a game console. As it was intended as a media player device more than a gaming device.)

And yes, we know, the Dreamcast could play a certain movie format that ended up becoming a major copy-protection vulnerability.

@KingMike I didn't know about the Saturn thing, thanks for that. I don't think video CDs ever took off at all in my area. By the time I even learned they existed, they were already obsolete and DVDs were getting really popular.

@Tasuki lol, you walked into that one.

I used YT on the Wii U browser for years, it was excellent, you could throw video onto the TV and use the web like an extended desktop.

Sometimes the gamepad is still downright handier than fumbling with a phone or tablet.

Ah well someday the Wii U will be Riicontected!

You can also not watch other videos on the Wii U browser.

I still make it a goal of mine to play my Wii U 25 hours a month. Doesn't matter how I get to 25 hours, just that I do. Although I will not leave a game on and not play it. I used to make it a goal to get to 100 hours a month then I reduced my goal to 50 hours a month in 2018, then to 25 hours from January last year.

@Tasuki I still use it daily. It's the most convenient thing to reach for in the morning when my 2 year old wakes up at like 6 am and I need an extra half an hour. Also, I put it on in the evening before bed, that way if I want to use the TV myself for a gaming session my partner can continue watching on the GamePad. Not the YT app itself tbh, as it's really broken, but the Netflix app. I basically don't use the Wii U in any other capacity so don't mind my 2 year old also occasionally dribbling on it or something, but that's mostly over now. I guess what I'm trying to say is it's actually really convenient to some situations.

@HIGHscores85 I'm guessing they got lost to time/Miiverse destruction of it's existence?

Considering YouTube still runs in the long out-of-date Chrome on my 14-year-old WinXP home rig, this sounds kinda odd indeed.

@Heavyarms55 as far as Googlepedia Land goes, it seems like Panasonic 3DO beat PS1 to the punch. But it's no surprise with either console seeing as they were produced by multimedia tech giants. Nintendo and Sega, companies focused on interactive electronic entertainment for over a decade by then, naturally had a different mentality and approach. In fact, it arguably wasn't until Vita and PS4 that Sony started making consoles that truly put gaming first and multimedia second. For Ninty it's always been that way, even after they jumped the YouTube bandwagon a couple generations ago (not counting earlier third party stunts like GBA Video format).

And I still concur - especially with the Switch that arrived in the age when both at home and on the go most people in the market and budget for multimedia entertainment have other, multiple and more convenient devices to run and stream this stuff on. It's really yet another situation compelling a "don't you guys have phones?" response, the latter tech being a handy option even at home where various players, Smart TVs and PCs have you covered as it is. And portably? If you take a Switch to a long trip/commute (not giving any ifs about a smartphone because that's what some people take even to the effin' BATH with them😅) and fancy watching an episode/movie, which battery resource will you spend on one? The smartphone will play the same video with blackjack and higher resolutions, but it won't play Xenoblade or Bioshock Infinite. I have no imaginable issues with what apps do appear on Switch at times, but I still believe that their presence on consoles is blatantly redundant nowadays. Different life circumstances may and will create exceptions (because when don't they?), but those exceptions' statistical presence is a different question.

Unfortunate, I still used that a lot. Mostly because the Wii U YouTube app suddenly turned into garbage, taking 5 to 10 minutes just to start up. Maybe I should try and get that fixed now...

They announced that this would happen months ago though. Ever since then, there was a yellow box on the top of the YouTube site saying Wii U support would be dropped soon. Also, there's still a little workaround to this; find a site that has embedded YouTube videos and click on those to play them. Videos will still load this way. For example, if you want to use YouTube for music, you can use the Shazam website, which has an embedded YouTube video listed for every song you can imagine.

Using the app will still be much less of a nuisance, though.

I never used YouTube thru the Wii U. I used the app... Like a Boss. But now I have a Chromecast so...

I always use the app for youtube

Using the browser for gameplay videos while having the game suspended was the freaking future!

The 3DS also can't watch YouTube at all. No app and the browser barely works.

@Priceless_Spork News to me that everyone has a Nook

@Thundertron55 Unless it got removed, the 3DS definitely has a youtube app

@Zeldafan79 Nobody was holding out for digital home video formats in 1976. I can't say your comparison holds up.

@Heavyarms55 It always disturbs me to watch individuals, as customers, advocate for enforced obsolescence and mindless consumption. Thanks for adding some perspective!

@Tasuki As a teenager the Wii U was all I had. I didn't have any money to buy anything else. My household even used the same chunky TV for almost 20 years. After moving to college and taking up a job, I was shocked that I could buy a 1080p smart TV after just a single paycheck at a minimum wage part-time job.

The Wii U browser has always sucked, though.
It was limited from launch in 2012.

I mean, I love the Wii U and was a launch-purchaser of the console's Deluxe edition. But the browser implementation was less than par and I think I used it all of 3 times for that reason. :/

This makes no sense whatsoever. Both Sony and Microsoft have supported YouTube, Netflix, etc. on their old game consoles. You can still watch YouTube videos on the PS3 without issues.

Can remember at least once watching YouTube in the late 2000s on the Wii's Internet Browser app. But I'm sure that has LONG since been unsupported.

I'm sure the 3DS web browser has fallen out of date too. Can remember at one point being able to ebay and be like "lol I'm buying physical games ON my 3DS". Could send email from it (okay, so I was actually fine using flip-phones longer than most people) but I think by the end of its lifespan only gmail worked (probably due to Google's HTML "slow connection" mode).

@SSJW That's unfortunate. I used to use the 3DS for youtube when I was playing phone games.

@RPGamer The 3DS app was discontinued last year in 2019. To my knowledge you can still watch through the browser as long as it’s a New 3DS/2DS. I have never used the browser on mine since I just use my phone. It’s my only source of internet at the moment anyway...

This whole “don’t you have phones?” is not a good argument. There are some people out there that don’t have smart phones or any cell phones. If you live in a rural low population area there is going to be poor cell service (or online service). And some people are poor and cannot get new devices every time one launches. So for some people using a dead console to stream may be their only option. Plus some people might have smart phones but want to watch it on on a bigger screen like a TV and streaming from a dead console might be their only option. There are still some people who haven’t gotten a Switch yet and scalpers have given us the “K-Rona Tax” on BOTH versions of the Switch.

Interesting. I had issues even launching the internet browser the other day. Getting closer and closer to the inevitable.

@marandahir In comparison to what? I think the Wii U browser was the best console browser experience I've ever used. Touch screen interface, decent speed, tab support, and user agent switching for increased compatibility.

@Bret Last I checked (around Christmas maybe) it didn't.

@nhSnork I've never been okay with the "Don't you guys have phones" thing. In response to the Switch. The Switch is far more convenient than my phone to watch something. It connects instantly and seamlessly to my TV, has a much larger screen in portable and has physical controls, rather than the touch screen nonsense that I only tolerate because 99.8% of all phones made in 2020 lack physical buttons.

Given the choice, I will almost always choose to watch a video on Switch over my phone.

Yes it still works as of July 1st 2020 just go to settings click on set user agent and switch it to ipad it then should take you to the following url https://m.youtube.com You will need to clear your cookies first

@RabidPikachu
And some people dont have smart phones by choice.

I forgot the Wii U even had a browser. I have used the 3DS browser to watch YouTube videos of Virtual Boy gameplay in 3D.

@Heavyarms55 rests my case about exceptions. With me it's the opposite - while I find modern phones suffering from the lack of physical buttons (and not just in terms of gaming either), video and audio playback is the one field where both touch and mouse controls will outrank physical buttons any day for me, except maybe for most basic stuff like pause/skip/volume on a portable music player so I shouldn't have to drag it out of the pocket every five minutes. Perhaps my VHS childhood is showing - I have my share of nostalgia about that format and the memories I gained through it, but I definitely don't miss the button controls. And no, I don't miss them on CD/DVD players either.

As for easy TV connection... again, is it me or more and more TV sets come outright equipped with video services and internet modules now? Since Switch can't offer anything else in the zone by nature, we're getting back to my point about the increasing redundancy.

As a web dev, it makes sense. Supporting old browsers can be a lot of work. Internet Explorer is a pain to have to support and we still have to support IE11 at my job, but recently stopped supporting IE10 which isn't even supported by Microsoft anymore. I can imagine it's the same for the Wii U browser, which probably isn't as widely used and seems like it hasn't been updated in a few years and probably won't get anymore updates, like security updates.

@Paddle1 Good points. I meant mostly in comparison to using my MacBook Pro do the same. I played around with it a few times before I had a computer to HDMI adapter to see what internet browsing would be like on my TV screen, but ultimately it felt clunky with a LOT of broken websites.

I do understand that this is likely the norm for most console experiences with web browsers, and that some people can't afford both a computer and a console and thus are trying to make the most out of a single purchase. I do not advocate for having a computer if a Wii U will serve your purposes, just that it was woefully inadequate for my own browsing experience.

I don't think a "don't you folks have smart phones or tablets or computers" is a good argument for the above reasons, just that when compared to those, it's not the Wii U's forte by any means, just like any console compared to a high end gaming PC is going to suffer (as does my Macbook Pro - it can't handle a ton of graphical improvement Morrowind Mods in OpenMW, even though that's an Xbox original game, because those mods just made it too much to process). Each device will have strengths and weaknesses, and the Wii U's strengths in my book far outweighed its weaknesses (though not in most other people's books, as the sales records show). I'd just argue that the browser was a weakness when you compare it to the main competition for web browsing - devices designed around the web-browsing experience (computer/tablet/smartphone), as opposed to it being a peripheral benefit like the Wii U and other consoles have.

I used to use the Wii U internet browser to watch youtube videos on the big screen since it was already hooked up to my tv unlike my laptop. However, that usefulness ran out once the Switch took its place as the console I always have hooked up. A bit of a shame, but I don't think too many people are still using it.

@nhSnork And again, you're in this crowd that seems to always have the latest gadgets. That's not the norm for most people. Having more options is a good thing. Not a bad one. No matter how much you call it redundant.

Sure, maybe for rich folk who always have the latest cell phones and TVs - but for us normal folk, who can upgrade our toys maybe every 5+ years. That's just not the case.

@marandahir Ah that makes sense, thanks for taking the time to respond. It definitely wasn't a computer level experience by any means, but by console standards it was pretty neat.

@Heavyarms55 flattering as it may be to get piled with "the rich folk", my awareness is largely informed, especially on the TV front. 😆And I'm not against options - like I said, when something like YouTube or Hulu on Switch does show up, I have neither grounds nor motivation to complain regardless of my interest or lack thereof. Wishing for options is a free action like all wishful thinking, too. But the entitled rhetorics reigning amongst fans that paint these options as something OBLIGATORY for a gaming device? They simply don't hold water on any front.