YouTube launches new viewer experience based on Watch History settings

YouTube experiments with new features all the time, and while some of them are never greenlit, a fair number are eventually rolled out to the general public. The new changes to the viewer experience are part of the latter category, so everyone will benefit its perks sooner or later.

The new viewer experience based on Watch History setting is meant to provide YouTube users with accurate video recommendations that fit their watching habits.

YouTube announced that starting today, YouTube users who have watch history turned off and no significant prior watch history will have all features that require watch history to provide video recommendations disabled, including the YouTube home feed.

So, if that’s you, don’t fret if your YouTube home feed will suddenly be empty after this update. But what exactly does it mean for those who have watch history turned off? First off, home feed will certainly look a lot different without having any recommended videos listed.

However, this will allow you to search more easily, browse subscribed channels and explore Topic tabs by using the search bar and the left-hand guide menu. If you don’t have watch history turned off or you have enough prior watch history, then these changes won’t really affect you.

YouTube says that these changes will be rolled out slowly over the next few months. The new viewer experience is expected to make it clearer which YouTube features rely on watch history to provide video recommendations and make it more streamlined for users who prefer to search for their content rather than be served recommendations.

Keep in mind that you can always change your YouTube watch history settings based on whether you prefer the app to provide video recommendations or not.