YouTube Device Certification Portal Release Notes

[December 5] UX Changes In Certification Portal, Derivative Model Support In Certification Portal For 2023 Device Series, YTS Guided Tests Launch and Changes In 2023 SW Requirement For URL Query Parameters

UX Changes In Certification Portal

YouTube has made the following user interface changes in the certification portal.

• In the Device Certification Portal, the device series and model details are now combined. The Models tab is removed and device series plus model information is available under the Details tab.

  

• The device series and model upload form user interface is changed to make it more user friendly. The user interface for the device series and model upload form has been changed to make it more user friendly.

  

The model form contains the following attributes:

1. Device Type
2. Max Video Decode Resolution
3. Max Video Decode Frame Rate
4. Video Decoders
5. Audio Decoders
6. Supported user input methods
7. Device Auth Key/Cert Scope
8. HDCP Version
9. Allocated System Memory
10. Allocated System Storage
11. Display Type
12. Brand Name
13. Model Name
14. HDR Support
15. Wake-on-LAN support
16. DIAL version
17. DMIPS Rating
18. OpenGL ES Version
19. GPU Pixel Fill Rate
20. GPU Texture Fill Rate
21. Widevine Resource Rating Tier
22. OEMCrypto Version
23. Near Field Mic
24. Far Field Mic
25. Voice Assistants
26. HDMI Version
27. ViewPort Resolution
28. Orientation Capabilities
29. Accessibility Features & Background mode support

Derivative Model Support In Certification Portal For 2023 Device Series

YouTube is pleased to announce the tooling support in the Device Certification Portal to support registering new derivative models and generate the required test plan for 2023 certification. YouTube 2023 derivative policy can be found in the technical requirements here. Check the section Derivative Model Support In Certification Portal For 2023 Device Series in the partner portal for more details. Following are the key changes in the Certification Portal.

• Partners can use the new Single model upload or Bulk upload form to upload derivative model details.

• Automatically create certification testing obligations & test plan when partner uploads a derivative mode in certified device series:

  • If uploaded models are non-trivially different from current certified models, a Partial Certification obligation is created. The partial certification test plan will be generated in the certification portal to test new derivative models. Partners will complete partial certification testing and submit results to YouTube. Partners are also required to submit the device to YouTube. YouTube will mark the derivative models as certified.
  • If uploaded models are very similar to current certified models and do not require additional testing, then paper certification will be given. In this case partners require no testing.
  • If uploaded models are significantly different from current certified models then the certification portal will disallow adding the model in the certified device series. They will require full certification.
  • If the model is uploaded in the extended derivative window (24 months after the end of cert year), additional Cobalt Update obligations are created.
  • Disallows creating, editing, bulk uploading models outside of the extended derivative window (24 months after the end of cert year).

  

YTS Guided Tests

YouTube is pleased to announce the launch of Guided tests in certification testing that displays instructions on an on-screen user interface of the device under test. The Guided Test launch is part of our efforts to make device certification fast and efficient. The Guided tests will be available starting YTS release 20221210.

We are replacing three manual tests with Guided Tests in the initial launch. We are planning to add more tests in Guided Tests in the coming months and eventually replace the majority of manual tests.

Please check the section YTS Guided Tests in the partner portal for more details.

In YTS cli, launch guided tests with the --guided flag: yts test <deviceId> --guided

Follow the instructions shown on your device. After every test, the UI will display the result and allow you to either retry, or accept the result and continue to the next one.

NOTE: If a test does not apply to your device, select Not Applicable which marks the test as FAILED (optional).

We welcome your feedback! If you experience bugs or have any other comments, please use IssueTracker or email [e-mail].

Changes in 2023 Technical Requirements for “URL Query Parameters”

In the (2023) Software Technical Requirements section URL Query Parameter, the following changes are made.

• In the URL query "topics" parameter following changes are done for supported params.
  • gaming, MUST support
  • movies, MUST support
  • music, MUST support
  • news, MUST support
  • live, MAY support
  • sports, MAY support
  • podcasts, MAY support
• In the URL query "list " parameter following changes are made.
  • Old : In addition, when the list parameter is set the URL MUST NOT include the v, c, or topic parameters.
  • Current: In addition, when the list parameter is set the URL MUST NOT include the c parameter.
• In the URL query “v” parameter following changes are made.
  • Old: In addition, when the v parameter is set:
    • The URL MUST NOT include the c or, list, or topic parameters.
  • Current: In addition, when the v parameter is set:
    • The URL MUST NOT include the c parameter.

[October 7] Submission based certification

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new submission-based certification. Please check the partner portal article “Certification Submission Workflow in Certification Portal”

See Certification Process for more screenshots and details.

All new certifications will go through this process. If partners have an in-progress certification at the time of this release, it will continue through the existing process.

Changes:

• After creating a new device series in the certification portal and adding at least one new device model (same process as today), partners will find a new button in the center of the certification page to Submit for Review. This will send the new series and model information to YouTube for internal review to verify that everything looks good before partners can begin testing.
• Submitting for review will also create a new issue in IssueTracker that will be used to track updates of device series under certification throughout the certification process.
• Once device information has been internally reviewed and approved by YouTube, partners will see an update to the above mentioned tracking issue. At this point partners should create device authentication keys from the series details page as you do today, and then begin testing on the device.
• After partners submit test results using YTS CLI, partners will see them appear in the certification portal. Partners will now see a new state diagram showing the current state of your firmware’s test result submission from creation to approval. Each state change will also be posted to the relevant IssueTracker issue to keep you up to date.
• Once pre-certification submission has been approved by YT, partners should ship your device to YT. Partners should update the issuetracker with device shipment details.
• YouTube will confirm the shipment is received in issueTracker.
• YouTube will internally start the certification to replicate your results and if the internal certification testing is approved, the device will be certified!
• You can track the submission state for internal YouTube certification in the certification portal just as you track the pre-certification status. Changes to internal submissions will also be posted to the IssueTracker issue to keep you up to date.

Improvements:

• Device information review is designed to help partners verify that their data is correct before beginning certification, and to prevent future data changes that can impact test plans.
• Partners will have a better view into the current state of their, or YouTube’s, test result submissions through a detailed submission state progress diagram.
• Every update to the device series or submissions will be relayed to the IssueTracker issue to update the partner of a change. Please ensure you have email notifications for IssueTracker set up, and CC anyone relevant to the issues whom you would like to notify.

[May 12, 2022] Waiver Resolution

The new Waiver Resolution process in the device certification portal provides a dedicated waiver resolution workflow with the least amount of testing possible to resolve waivers. The Device Maintenance article is updated to include the Waiver Resolution workflow details.

[May 12, 2022] Cobalt Update

The new Cobalt Update process in the device certification portal provides a dedicated workflow with the least amount of testing possible for cobalt update. The Cobalt Update section in the Device Maintenance article is updated with the new steps to submit Cobalt updates.

As a part of the new Cobalt update workflow, partners can see new bugs created in the issue tracker for tracking Cobalt update obligation. The Issue Tracker entry is updated for every status change in cobalt update submission.

[April 27, 2022] Support To Add Multiple Voice Assistants

The Device Certification Portal now supports addition of multiple voice assistants at the model level for a device series.

1. Click the New Model icon in the Model tab of the device series in the certification portal.

   

2. If the model supports this capability, you must enable the Voice Assistant(s) option. Enabling the option displays a list of all the voice assistants. Select all the supported voice assistants.

   

3. In the test plan for device series, separate tests for all the supported voice assistants are added for the following test cases:

   • Conditional Voice Query Outside of YouTube
   • Voice Query Inside of YouTube
   • Selecting Result from Voice Queries Outside of YouTube
   • Passing Voice Queries from Outside of YouTube