By ignoring Apple's video player API for the Apple TV, controlling the YouTube app is more painful and tedious than it needs to be.

Dave Smith/Business Insider

Apple's video player API for the Apple TV, which Netflix uses for its own Apple TV app, is great for controlling playback.

Just tap the Apple TV remote's touchpad to see the video timeline, swipe left or right to rewind or fast-forward — it has inertial scrolling, like an iPhone, so your movements are pretty precise — and click to play. Alternatively, you can also use your voice to control playback. Both options work well.

But the YouTube app ignores these functions, which means you have to rely on the remote control's touchpad to rewind and fast-forward — but since YouTube's app doesn't support inertial scrolling, you'll have to swipe repeatedly to move across the timeline. Here's the complete five-step process for the YouTube app:

Touch the remote to activate playback controls Swipe up to access the timeline Swipe left to rewind, or right to fast-forward (and skip over your content repeatedly) Swipe back down to the play button once you've landed on the sweet spot Press play

YouTube's UI might work fine on other devices like the PlayStation 4, where the DualShock 4's directional pad can better navigate the interface, but it's not a good system on the Apple TV, and inferior to Apple's built-in player, which only takes 1-3 steps to do just about anything.