has your YouTube consumption decreased after implementing the "no history, no recommendations" feature?

Drinvictus, 9 months ago

Nah recommendations are shit anyway. I just watch my subscriptions

RickRussell_CA, 9 months ago

Yeah, I use the regular Youtube client more frequently, because my senses aren't assaulted by a crapass load of thumbnails of dumb stuff.

mr_sparkle, 9 months ago

I haven’t been on YouTube in over a month but it’s because the ads were getting way out of control.

can, 9 months ago

I use YouTube every day and haven’t see an ad once.

shashi154263, 9 months ago

Then you’re definitely using adblocker or Premium. Because YouTube shows ads before (and sometimes after also) almost every video these days.

MisterChief, 9 months ago

Not sure what your platform of choice is but unlock origin for firefox or youtube revanced for phone are 2 great ways to remove ads.

ctr1, 9 months ago

I stopped using recommendations years ago and only use NewPipe and Invidious. I did notice a reduction in my watch time, but there is plenty to watch when using a subscription-only feed. I havent added very many channels to my list since then, but personalized recommendations aren’t worth the privacy cost. Hoping to leave the platform eventually

Unforeseen, 9 months ago

You talk about leaving like it’s an addiction, but it sounds like you enjoy the content.

I have a few subs that I enjoy, but it’s not like I can find replacements like I did with twitter and Reddit.

Hoping to leave how? Just by not watching anything, or just hopeful of a replacement?

ctr1, 9 months ago (edited 9 months ago)

Haha yeah, nicely put. I do enjoy the content, mostly because I’ve been following these creators for some time, and it’s hard to find a replacement for it… there is a lot of great content there, but it makes me feel gross using it. And same, I had no problem finding an alternative for Reddit (this), probably because I was not very attached to individual creators there.

I’m hoping a decentralized solution gains traction, but in the meantime I’ve been trying to limit the amount of information I share with the platform. I’m not actively trying to restrict my usage (most of that was achieved when I stopped using an account), but maybe it’s a good idea to do so. I mostly use it when eating or going to sleep, and there are better ways to occupy that time.

luthis, 9 months ago

I mostly use Odysee, so no change for me.

d3Xt3r, 9 months ago

Nope. I’ve always had my history disabled, so my homepage was always full off clickbait junk which I never paid attention to. Usually I find new content by searching for stuff that I’m actually interested in, or by recommendations IRL or online.

MataVatnik, 9 months ago

No, the recommendations became shit ever since I put on ad blocker so I wasn’t really using them. If anything, now with history off I actually pay closer attention to the people I’m subscribed to since there is a subscription tag that I didn’t realize I was ignoring.

ninetynine, 9 months ago

I’ve noticed a lot of users on here actually really like the lack of recommendations. My use hasn’t gone down but I do miss having videos on the YouTube main page, particularly on my PC.

SteleTrovilo, 9 months ago

As someone who routinely watches YT through Invidious and NewPipe, I haven’t changed my habits.

Brad, 9 months ago

NewPipe user here, and same thing. It’s amazing.

redhydride, 9 months ago

Yeah, I catch myself sometimes to switch to NewPipe. But sometimes the videos just don’t play. And sometimes it works fine

ctr1, 9 months ago

Major bugs usually get fixed pretty quickly- I always check the GitHub to make sure I have the latest version when I have issues. And Invidious can work as an alternative most of the time, but some instances work better than others

gunpachi, 9 months ago

Yes, I’ve experienced that too. Newpipe generally functions smoothly on my phone, working around 98% of the time. However, when I opt for invidious, the videos sometimes doesn’t play.

Recently, I’ve been leaning towards using Freetube more. I’ve configured it to include invidious in the settings. It appears that it seamlessly switches between different invidious instances, ensuring an better user experience than just using a normal invidious instance.

Pantherina, 9 months ago

Was unusable for some weeks once, now fixed again and just works. Sometimes crashes but videos always play

eleanor, 9 months ago

I never went to the homepage unless I accidentally landed there because of autofill. I normally just go straight to subscriptions. There are still recommendations under videos, so I check that out every so often, mostly because my secondary monitor is portrait and I can see them under the video

alianne, 9 months ago

Same, the subscription page is essentially my homepage. It has exactly the content I want on it, and I can always use the sidebar recommendations if I feel like browsing for something new after my queue is complete.

cobysev, 9 months ago

This is my standard. Subscriptions or bust.

There was a time, maybe 5+ years ago, when I’d occasionally go to YouTube’s homepage, right-click every video in the feed, and select “don’t recommend channel.” After doing that off and on for a year or so, I suddenly found myself with an empty homepage. Absolutely no videos would load, just a blank white screen with a YouTube search bar at the top. It was glorious.

That is, until Google updated YouTube and it removed all my preferences. Now I have unlimited video recommendations on my homepage and I can’t seem to make them all go away anymore. #BringBackOldYouTube