Looking at the X TV App On My Google TV

Betas are hard to critique

I follow Elon Musk on Twitter/X. I mean, why not, right? And recently he posted that the X TV app was now available in limited release. One of those limits was Google TV. Well, my new television is a Google TV. So I tried it out.

This is, indeed, sort of a beta version of what they hope it will become over time. And right now, its limitations are huge.

It is apparently wanting to go to war with YouTube. The layout is somewhat similar. At the top of the screen are videos posted from the accounts I follow. These are typically long form videos that I simply don’t have time to watch when I am scrolling through Twitter/X on my phone. So, the ability to choose to watch them on my big screen TV from the comfort of my living room couch while sipping on coffee in the morning, LMNT water in the afternoon, or the possible glass of bourbon in the evening was pretty exciting.

But that’s about it.

There is a “Recommended” list of videos which is a bit interesting if not outright frustrating. You would think that with all the algorithmic choices Twitter/X has before it, it could make a better prediction about what to recommend to me.

But no.

The very first video presented was from The Lincoln Project. I NEVER read anything by The Lincoln Project. EVER. So why would X TV put it before my eyes as something it “recommends” to me?

I have no idea.

I thoroughly LOVE the YouTube feature to long hold on the thumbnail on my TV app and choose either “Do Not Show Me This” or “Do Not Show Me This Channel” options (those are not direct quotes). When I accidentally click on a video that was actually clickbait, the algorithm will automatically think I want to engage further and show me dozens of other videos from this site unless I tell it otherwise. And in today’s political and religious climate, I find myself clicking those choices more and more.

But the X TV app doesn’t have that capability. In fact, it has very few capabilities at this point. It shows you what it shows you. And you will like it. End of story.

Although I have not looked at this specifically, I would assume that if I have blocked an account on Twitter (and I have blocked about ten in total), those accounts will not show up on the X TV app. At least I haven’t seen them yet.

Thank God for small favors, right?

So, for now, I am using the X TV app very little. I have watched a couple of videos that are 30 minutes or longer from the accounts I follow. But so far, there hasn’t been anything “recommended” that interests me enough to care to watch them.

I’m hoping as they add new features this will become more of a player in the online streaming world. I’m sure it will, in fact.

As Musk moves to monetize user accounts for using the Twitter/X platform rather than, or in addition, to, YouTube or Rumble, it will have to become a lot more user friendly to be a player in this game.

And while I do not plan to leave YouTube with my three video accounts, I may see what expanding to include Twitter/X does with at least one of them.

If you have used X TV, let me know your thoughts in the comments.