Image: X Engineers
X (formerly Twitter) has announced its foray into the streaming wars with the launch of the X TV app. Designed to bring videos and live streams from X straight to your television, the app is currently in beta for Android TVs.
As a longtime X user and social media addict, I decided to jump into the app and try it out. X has been a nightmare for the past year, so my hope was that this app would offer a better experience. Unfortunately, I discovered it was somehow even worse.
BREAKING: The 𝕏 TV app is now live on Android TVs.
— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) September 2, 2024
It's available on LG, Amazon Fire TV, and Google TV, with more integrations coming soon.
pic.twitter.com/2IfZ6bduL5
Currently, X TV shows live streams and videos from accounts you follow, along with algorithmically curated videos in a “Recommended For You” tab. You can also find videos trending across the platform and any videos from posts you’ve bookmarked in the past.
Overall, my experience with X TV was puzzling, boring, and irritating. The Recommended For You tab populated videos I had no interest in, with some pushing conspiracy theories and even a few in languages I don’t speak. My followed accounts feed was dominated by just two or three accounts. The whole experience left me wondering why I needed a smart TV app to view videos on X in the first place. The platform's mobile app does the job so much better and can already cast videos to your television.
Still, X TV may have a future with exclusive content that X promises is on its way. Until that kind of content is available, though, this app is probably not worth your time.
Let’s dive into X TV’s beta and see if this streaming app deserves a spot on your smart TV.
How to use X TV
Image: Max McCaskill
X TV is easy to download and install. It works on Android TVs, including Samsung TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Google TV. I successfully downloaded it using an Amazon Fire Stick.
To log in, you simply use a link to authenticate your account with your X profile. From there, you use your remote to navigate between the different video sections. Since the app is in beta, the different video categories are fairly limited. They include:
- Live from Following: Live streams from accounts you follow.
- Following: Videos from accounts you follow.
- Recommended For You: Curated videos, though it’s unclear what drives the selection criteria.
- Trending: Popular videos that are currently trending.
- Bookmarked: Videos from your bookmarked X posts.
My experience with X TV
Your experience with X TV will depend on the accounts you follow and your interests. If you follow a lot of accounts that don’t post videos—like me—you’ll find much of the app fairly boring. Live streams and the Following sections come straight from the accounts you follow. Since I mainly use my main account feed as a news aggregator, these sections were dominated by just two or three accounts that post a lot of videos.
The Recommended For You tab—the largest and most prominent section—suffers from the same issues that currently plague X at large. The videos recommended for me were not in line with my followed accounts or interactions on the platform. Unlike my YouTube feed, they didn’t align with my interests in the slightest. In fact, the feed seemed designed to push content I didn’t want to see.
The videos covering politics, news, and college football made sense based on my recent activity. What made less sense were the videos of professional wrestling, election conspiracies, and even one video complaining about the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Some of the videos were even in Japanese, Spanish, and Chinese, which are not languages I speak nor a kind of content I’ve ever interacted with on X.
Image: Max McCaskill
I have no idea why X thought these were topics I’d be interested in. With that many weird videos, I couldn’t let the app simply run. Instead, I had to pick and choose videos as I went along.
Unfortunately, clicking through videos slowed the app down and caused it to crash. To be clear, I don’t knock X for the app crashing. This is a beta; bugs like that are to be expected. However, trying to force-feed me videos I actively dislike or have no interest in made me question why I would ever want to use that app section again.
Recap: Do I recommend X TV?
In its current beta state, I don’t recommend X TV.
Overall, it’s just not a good experience to watch videos from X on a television and, in a broader sense, I was left wondering why X TV was developed in the first place. Despite X calling itself a “video-first” platform, a massive portion of its posts are still words, pictures, and GIFs. The rapid-fire engagement of people screaming at interacting with each other using those posts is a major part of the platform’s draw. That feeling isn’t replicated in this video-only app. Simply put: The secret sauce is missing.
Despite its flaws, X TV may have some potential. After all, this is just the beta. Exclusive content (which is promised on the app’s Google Play Store page) and improvements in the Recommended For You section would likely solve some of the more glaring issues.
X has already begun moving in that direction by announcing shows hosted by political commentators such as Tucker Carlson, Don Lemon, and Tulsi Gabbard, though not all of them have come to fruition. It’s also secured a streaming partnership with BIG3, the three-on-three basketball league, which opens the door for other lesser-known sports to make their way to the platform. Unlike the strange mix of videos currently on the app, all of this content seems like it could yield a viable streamer.
Ultimately, though, until the app does a better job showing videos that don’t actively make people want to turn it off, it will likely struggle to find viewers outside of the hardcore X and Elon Musk fans. Personally, as someone who’s already temporarily deleted X off their phone twice this year for mental health breaks, I have no intention of going back to X TV any time soon.
How WhistleOut reviews apps
Our mobile experts scour the app stores, looking for the best new apps for Android and iPhone. Before recommending an app, we use the app for at least one full workday, testing its basic functionality and evaluating whether or not it delivers on its promises.
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Max McCaskill
Max started his career as a newspaper reporter covering public policy. Today, he uses his skills to help readers navigate the complicated world of wireless technology. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him sharpening his photography skills, fly fishing, or complaining about SEC football.
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