Enjoy YouTube's "leanback" interface while you can. A pop-up message on the streaming video site's TV-friendly landing page says it'll be gone soon.

There's no indication of when it will be going away or why, but Mashable reached out to Google for comment. The pop-up message makes it clear that TV watchers will have to turn to supported devices like game consoles or streaming boxes as a user-friendly alternative for watching YouTube in the living room.

"This version of YouTube will be going away soon," the pop-up message reads. "You'll still be able to view youtube.com, but you can get an optimized experience on a supported device." Users are then pointed to a YouTube help page that runs through exactly what qualifies as a supported device. (You probably own one.)

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Credit: screenshot by mashable

YouTube launched the "leanback" interface way back in 2010 as a way to bring streaming video into the living room. It was a time when smart TVs were still in their infancy, Roku was only two years old, and game consoles weren't the multipurpose streaming boxes they've become.

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Chances are high that Google is shutting down the web portal simply because, with so many other options, usage has tailed off. Did you even know this TV-friendly YouTube portal still existed? The news that it's being shut down is probably the most people have talked about it in a number of years.

We'll update this story if/when Google responds, but if you've been relying primarily on the leanback interface for YouTube on your TV, now's a good time to look into alternatives. Also: you might want to think twice before you rely on your smart TV exclusively for streaming video.

[h/t Android Police]