Last Updated on February 6, 2023
A FireStick essentially turns a regular TV into a smart TV. You are able to enjoy various online streaming services, such as YouTube TV, directly on your television. Nothing beats being able to come home after a long day and watch your favorite on-demand and live content.
However, if you find that you are getting buffering, black screens, or that YouTube TV just isn’t working on your FireStick at all, then you need to figure out how to fix it. Thankfully, there are a lot of simple fixes to get your FireStick and your YouTube TV playing nicely together.
Read on to troubleshoot and fix the problems of YouTube TV on FireStick.
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Common Problems You Will Encounter With YouTube TV
For starters, the most common problems are problems that you will encounter with YouTube in general, and these are:
- Play issues
- Black screens
- Constant buffering
- Not being able to start a video
- Low frame rates and resolutions
- Long load times
- Audio issues
- The app closing unexpectedly
- YouTube TV not starting
Most of the issues you will find are issues related to YouTube TV and not the FireStick itself, so that should take a load off if you aren’t too technical of a person. The fixes are pretty easy, so here is where we start!
How To Fix Problems With YouTubeTV And FireStick
Check Your Internet Connection
Whether you have a smart TV or not, your FireStick is going to need to be connected to the internet in order to work, and problems with apps can sometimes come from a lack of connection. To know if your connection is to blame, check other devices to see if they are working fine.
You might need to restart your router by unplugging it for around half a minute and then plugging it back in. Let the FireStick/Smart TV reconnect to the internet. You can also restart your FireStick once the connection has been established, just to make sure everything is restarted.
If the router is restarted, your devices are connected, and you are still having some trouble, move on to the next solution.
Check To Make Sure YouTube TV Is Up To Date
If your FireStick appears to be working and problems are still occurring, then you need to focus on the YouTube TV side of things. You can go into the application settings on your FireStick and work with the settings there.
Some action steps to try are:
- The Force Stop setting allows you to stop the app from working completely. Then you can restart it, which is often going to fix most of the problems that you have.
- You can also use the Clear Data setting to clear the data associated with the application in order to solve any login problems.
- Finally, the Clear Cache setting removes any cached files on the FireStick that the app needs for it to work, such as local copies of videos and thumbnail images.
Try these actions and then see if the application works. You can also go to the app homepage and then try to see if any updates to the app are needed. You can also uninstall and reinstall the YouTube TV application to force any updates.
When All Else Fails, Restart Everything
Sometimes the best solution is to turn it off and then turn it back on again.
Many problems with your FireStick and the YouTube TV application are going to be fixed by simply turning the devices off and giving them a hard restart. Hold down the power button on your FireStick remote, and then go into settings and restart your device.
Or go in and restart the YouTube TV application. You will be surprised how many times this will solve your problem and will allow you to experience the videos you want without spending hours troubleshooting. Hard restarts allow everything to be kept up to date and also allow for updates to be installed, so take advantage of them!
Make Sure You Can Access YouTube TV
Now, there is one reason why you might not be able to find YouTube TV on your FireStick because it is not available for the first generation of FireStick devices. Due to some legal disputes, the YouTube TV application is not on the store for the first gen FireSticks. However, you can get around this with some tinkering if getting an updated FireStick device isn’t in your future.
But if you can, you should update to at least the second generation, if not a bit higher, to make sure you can access YouTube TV and all that FireStick TV has to offer you.
Is YouTube’s Website The Problem?
Sometimes you can do everything on every guide and find that the problems are just not being solved. If you try to connect with YouTube but find that the connection just isn’t working, you might wonder if YouTube itself is the problem and not your connection. If YouTube’s servers are down, then there’s not a lot you can do about it, but you can check!
You can go to various websites to see if the YouTube website is down, and just type in the name and wait for the results. If YouTube is up and running, then your connection is the issue. However, if the servers are down, then all you can do is wait and hope that the website gets fixed soon.
Relevant Read
Commonly Asked Questions on YouTube TV and FireStick
How do You Install A FireStick And YouTube TV?
If you are just getting your FireStick right out of the box, then you will need to set it up first. Then install YouTube TV.
For a FireStick, you just need to plug the FireStick into your television’s HDMI port and connect it to the internet; no smart TV is required! You will need to download the FireStick app to your phone and create an account.
Then you go into the home screen of the FireStick and go to the ‘Apps’ section. Once you do, scroll through until you find the YouTube TV app and connect to it. Once the app is installed, you can open up your FireStick and use YouTube TV to watch what you want!
Well, at least you can, in theory, because sometimes you run into some problems that prevent FireStick from fully working with YouTube TV.
What Are The Best Things To Watch On YouTube TV?
Well, now that you have your FireStick and your YouTube TV working perfectly together, you might run into another problem, the problem where you’ve got no clue what to watch! With live content, on-demand content, and the massive entertainment rabbit hole that is YouTube at your fingertips, you might find that you have no idea what you want to watch!
Thankfully, some of the best things to watch on YouTube TV are pretty popular shows, so if you follow any type of social media, then you probably know what those are.
Additionally, YouTube is pretty great for binging, so if you pick a good series that you can binge, you will be good. Bonus points if it is a series that you’ve seen 100 times but just keep getting suckered into again!
What Other Apps Can I Use A FireStick With?
If you want to unlock the full potential of the Amazon FireStick, then there are plenty of other applications that are designed to be used with it! The massive library of apps can be a bit overwhelming, but there are a few that are well worth a download.
For example, the app Kodi is an application that comes free with the FireStick and gives you a lot of add-ons and also a lot of entertainment that you can fully customize for your needs. You just need to download it from a third-party store, as the Amazon app store doesn’t support it.
Other free apps can include PlutoTV, and UnlockMyTV, which connect you to different servers, so you aren’t just limited to content from your home region. Instead, you can find constantly updating content from all around the world, and it is also free to use and very easy to install on your FireStick.
Don’t be afraid to explore and see what apps will work the best for you and for all your content streaming needs. There are a lot of amazing things to watch out there, and the app that you took a chance on might just contain your brand-new favorite show.
Get YouTube TV Working With Your FireStick!
It won’t take too long to get your FireStick working with YouTubeTV, and it also won’t take too long to troubleshoot any problems you might have with it. Often a good restart of your router, your FireStick, or your YouTube TV application will solve everything, and you can get back to watching your favorite content.
There are a lot of things to watch on YouTube TV, and having a perfectly working FireStick only makes binging your favorite content all the easier!
