Channels & viewing

[RubyDag]

I'm getting similar behavior now... (Nov. 2024) it started in the past 5-10 days on one of my tvs outfitted with a Roku Ultra. Started sometime after Nov. 1 for certain. Tonight, I see it has spread to the 2nd roku/tv (and there's a third one, and that one worked fine yesterday--I'll bet it doesn't anymore as I type this.)

That is to say... it won't play content at all, or it will play one or two videos and then refuse and claim age restrictions.

Used to be I'd launch the Youtube app, and I could select to view as "guest" and it would do its thing.

Now, , it either goes to the black/white login screen or goes to the home screen where the "recommendations" row is just a big blue banner, telling me to log in.

It may or may not be pulling in any prior searches or watched videos for the other rows (every night it's different...but mostly it's pre-filled in **bleep** suggestions that aren't mine)

Thing is, NONE of the content will play. Every last thing brings up a black/white screen telling me it's age restricted and a QR code and do something with my smart phone (which I don't have). Kids shows, white noise channels you name it is "age restricted".

This behavior is inconsistent too. One night in the past week TV/Roku # 1 behaved just fine as expected. Other nights, even with the blue banner it might play one video, maybe 2, and then everything further is ate restricted . Each night (or day) it's different. Most days it won't play any content and demands a login.

No issues viewing youtube on the PCs. But, I didn't buy Rokus to watch tv on my computers or to clog up the network with unnecessary casting. (and lets face it, nowhere has more documentaries and info vids than youtube)

I did all the resets/reinstalling/unplugging yada yada on the first TV/Roku, and I'm not even going to bother with this second one. Not a single thing made ANY difference whatsoever. Only trying youtube again the next night made any difference. It would behave different---for that day. I thought the one night when it worked again things were fixed. Guess not.

So, is youtube just cutting everyone off from viewing content via Roku without signing in?

[RokuTakashi]

Hi, @RubyDag 

Greetings, and welcome to the Roku Community.

We appreciate you for sharing with us your concern with the YouTube app's guest mode access, and we acknowledge the efforts you have taken in an attempt to resolve the issue. 

For this matter, it is advisable to contact the channel provider's support team directly for further assistance. They may offer a potential workaround or indicate whether an update to their application on the Roku platform is required. It is important to note that the majority of channels available on Roku are developed and maintained by the respective channel providers.

For more information, you can reach them at YouTube Support.

We hope this will be sorted out soon.

Best wishes,
Kash

[RubyDag]

Hello RokuTakashi,

Well, I did try to contact youtube. But, without a login there, all I can do is reply to a help page that wasn't helpful. No email address is asked for, so there will be no reply.

Which effectively means yes, youtube is cutting me off without a login/account.