Apple TV owners report issues with exiting YouTube app

Apple TV 4K

Some Apple TV set-top box owners have recently discovered a bug with the YouTube app on it, and it's not clear why or how it started.

Users have reported on Reddit and Twitter that when they exit the YouTube app in tvOS, it prompts them to confirm if they want to exit. It causes a black screen to appear, leaving users with no choice but to force close the app.

YouTube Support is recommending to some users that they can force-close an Apple TV app by double-pressing the TV button on the Siri Remote, navigating to the app, and swiping up on the trackpad. The official YouTube account recommends restarting the Apple TV and deleting and reinstalling the YouTube app to its latest version.

sorry for the trouble! if you haven't yet try restarting your device. deleting the app + reinstalling its latest version can also help
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) December 12, 2022

Another workaround is to press and hold the Menu/Back button on the Siri Remote, instead of interacting with the YouTube app's prompt to exit. Or, press the TV button instead.

None of the workarounds appear to fix the problem, permanently, however.

I can't normally exit the @YouTube app on my Apple TV anymore. There's a new dialogue that asks if I want to quit the app. A positive answer leads to a black screen from which I can only force quit the app through the task manager. #onlyGoogle
— Christian Raddatz (@speedlimiter) December 11, 2022

It's not clear where the problem lies, in this case. Reports of the issues do not coincide with Apple's recent updates, and are concentrated over the weekend of December 10. For now, it appears the issue may be completely server-side, or a bug in the app induced by a change on how YouTube is serving data.