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Using the YouTube App

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Tim Baker
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Requirements before you begin:

  • Added the YouTube Widget from the Signagelive Marketplace
  • Article applies to all Media Players

The Signagelive YouTube App allows you to show YouTube videos within your Signagelive content and allows you to show any YouTube video, live stream or playlist of videos on your digital signage displays. You can incorporate the YouTube App in your Playlist or multizone Layout as per your scheduling requirements.

Please Note

Please Note: We at Signagelive recommend that you never use content that is not your own, however, you can read more about the facts and myths of content sharing here to make sure that any YouTube content you use is not breaking any of the rules set by YouTube or its content owners.

What will I need?

For Videos

For watching a video you will need the ‘Embed URL’ of any YouTube video, stream or playlist, which can be obtained by going to the ‘Share’ properties within the video page on YouTube, this can be found by following these instructions:

  • Navigate to the video in YouTube
  • Select Share
  • Copy the ID part of the URL share link (it should read: https://youtu.be/######## or similar)

For Playlists

For watching a playlist you can find this ID from the URL in the navigation menu - it should look something like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=######&list=PL########. The main difference between video and playlist IDs is that playlists start with ‘PL’.

For watching videos from a specific YouTuber you will need their username, channels are not supported.

These IDs/values will be required as one of the App preferences that you will need to change along with the ‘Content-Type’.

The YouTube App is available within the Signagelive Marketplace for you to add to your Network now.

The steps to add the App are as follows:

  • Login to your Signagelive Network
  • Navigate to Content - Playlist - Create/ Edit
  • Select the Upload button
  • Select ‘From the Marketplace’
  • Find the Youtube widget
  • Select ‘Add to Network’
  • Exit the Marketplace and go to your ‘Recently Added’ folder

Watch our video walk through here:

How can I use the App?

You can simply add one App or even multiple versions of it to your playlist like you would any other asset, or you can use the Widget icon within the layout creator to add a single, static App to your Layout directly.

Please Note

If you are using your YouTube App within a Playlist, you should be sure to amend the 10-second default duration to match at least the length of the video or playlist being published. If you are using the App as a static App within a layout, it will refresh once every 24 hours as default and continue to loop (unless you change the looping properties within the App).

What properties can I change within the YouTube App?

You can configure the App properties to show either a single video, live stream or a playlist by pasting the Embed URL, found on the YouTube video itself into the editable properties of the widget.

You can also change other properties, allowing you to amend the following:

  • Content type - Select the content type you would like to display from Youtube. This includes Video, Playlist, Users Video, Search.
  • Username - This allows you to enter a YouTube Username. Please note that this is not the Channel name.
  • Search Phrase - This feature will bring up videos with the search phrase you are using to discover videos on YouTube
  • Video/Playlist ID - This will allow you to display Playlists from YouTube. To add a Playlist, open your playlist on YouTube and copy everything past list= in the URL. 
  • Closed Captions - Enable/Disable closed captions (supported on SMIL and Philips players only)
  • Autoloop Video - Enable/Disable Autoloop video
  • Modest Branding - This parameter lets you use a YouTube player that does not show a YouTube logo
  • Related Videos - This parameter indicates whether the player should show related videos when playback of the initial video ends

Please Note

When using a livestream, it is important to ensure you enable the 'Allow embedding' setting within your YouTube Stream settings. The content will fail to render via our widget if this is not enabled ahead of deployment.

allow_embedding_of_your_youtube_livestream.png

Additional Notices

Samsung Tizen: YouTube app does not work on Tizen 2.4 players.

AutoPlay Limitation: On android devices, the Auto-play property only works on Android 9 and greater. The IAdea, Planar, Viewsonic, Philips and Amazon Fire TV (HD and 4K) devices do not support Autoplay with the YouTube widget. The autoplay property works on any other supported player.

Offline Playback: YouTube content is not downloaded, so unlike most other Signagelive Apps, offline playback of YouTube videos is not an option, you will need to have a permanent network connection for continuous playback of your YouTube content.

How can I find out more?

You can always search for answers with the Signagelive Help Centre, but rest assured we have a dedicated Support Team that are ready to assist you with any questions you ma have. We are always here to help as best we can, so just contact us for any help you require.

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