This partner site contains the device partners and certification documentation (including requirements) that devices must comply with in order to carry YouTube Applications (defined below) on Living Room Devices (defined below).
Access
To get access to the rest of the partner site and related materials, see Accessing Living Room Partnership Resources.
Content
You can find device partners and certification content on this partner site.
Device Partners
The device partners content is for YouTube Living Room device partners who are interested in enabling and distributing the YouTube Living Room applications on their devices. It covers major topics that support partners throughout the entire device certification/launch process - from planning, through to implementation, testing, certification, launch and post-launch maintenance.
YouTube Applications
The YouTube Living Room applications are 10-foot user interfaces intended for “lean-back experience” in the YouTube services. They are all HTML5 based, which means if a web application engine is compliant - if it supports all necessary HTML5 functions, the YouTube Living Room applications can run on any device without modification regardless of the device’s underlying platform.
In addition to the YouTube main application for Living Room devices, YouTube offers other vertical applications to device partners available at different URLs such as YouTube Kids and YouTube TV. More vertical applications may be added in the future.
The device certification process and requirements are for verifying if a partner device meets all the functional and performance requirements to run the HTML5 based YouTube Living Room applications without compromising on the user experience.
Certification
The certification content is split up into two sets of information:
Software Documentation: contains the base Software requirements for supporting YouTube applications; this content is finalized and published in early Q3 of Year 0 for devices that ship to consumers in Year 1.
Hardware Documentation: contains the base Software requirements for supporting YouTube applications; this content is finalized and published in early Q3 of Year 0 for devices that ship to consumers in Year 2.
Each of these documents includes content for two types of audiences:
Certification Guide: this content describes the requirements and the reasons why they are required. The intended audience for this content is Product Managers, business counterparts, etc.
Requirement and Technical Details (RTD): this content describes what the requirements are and how to technically implement them. The intended audience is Partner Engineers, QA testers, etc.
Users can filter content to suit their needs by selecting “Certification Guide”, “Requirements & Implementation Details”, or “Full Documentation” from the left hand navigation panel.
Revision History and Change Report
When changes to the requirements are necessary, those changes will be described at a high level in the Revision History (Software Revision History, Hardware Revision History). Direct notice will also be given when material changes are made to this document, and YouTube will provide the maximum possible notification time when major changes are necessary.
When the finalized Certification Documentation is published (in early Q3), a Change Report (Software, Hardware) will also be published to help partners understand the key changes. This Change Report will also be published when the draft Certification Documentation is shared in Q2 for Partner Feedback.
Partner Feedback Period
On an annual basis, YouTube will publish the DRAFT requirements in Q2 to solicit partner feedback before the requirements are FINAL in Q3. During this period, partners are encouraged to review the requirements and the change report provided.
Note that the feedback period is currently open. Use the Software feedback form and Hardware feedback form to provide your feedback on any changes to the requirements. Please feel free to reach out to your Partnerships / Partner Engineering contact, or to youtube-devices@google.com with any questions.
Definitions
YouTube Applications
The term “YouTube application” references any of the following three HTML5 applications available on Living Room devices:
- The YouTube on TV application, referred to as YouTube Main App in this document.
- The YouTube Kids on TV application, referred to as YouTube Kids in this document.
- The YouTube TV on TV application, referred to as YouTube TV in this document.
Living Room Devices
Includes TVs, Game Consoles, OTT devices (aka Digital Media Adapters, Streaming Sticks) and Set-Top-Boxes.
Q1/Q2/Q3/Q4
When YouTube uses these terms, we are referring to the quarters based on the calendar year from January - December.