YouTube’s updated homepage puts personalised feeds alongside subscriptions, music and live streams, giving viewers more ways to choose what to watch.
YouTube is giving viewers a more direct way to steer their recommendations. Custom feeds let people describe a subject, routine or viewing mood and turn that request into a dedicated space on their homepage.
The feature offers an alternative to repeatedly searching for the same kind of video. Someone interested in learning photography, for example, could create a feed for beginner camera lessons and return to it whenever they have time to practise.
Who can use YouTube custom feeds?
YouTube’s current documentation lists availability in English in the United States, with support on phones and computers. Tablets are excluded. Viewers must sign in, enable watch and search history, and set their YouTube device language to English.
Free accounts can maintain three custom feeds; YouTube Premium accounts can maintain eight. The documentation does not establish an India launch date.
How to create a custom feed
On the mobile homepage, tap the plus button, describe the videos you want and submit the prompt. On desktop, select Custom Feed near the top left of Home.
You can revise a saved feed by opening it and editing its prompt. YouTube also says refreshing a feed generates another selection of recommendations, although some videos may remain.
A useful starting point is to describe the subject and the situation in which you plan to watch. These are illustrative prompts, rather than tested results:
- Beginner photography lessons for practising at home.
- Quiet cooking videos for a relaxed evening.
- Explanations of computer hardware for first-time PC builders.
Start with one clear request. If the selection feels too broad, adjust the description instead of adding several unrelated interests to the same feed.
What changes on the mobile homepage?
YouTube’s navigation guide places feeds in a scrollable top bar. Alongside custom feeds, viewers can access Subs, Music and Live.
Subs provides recent content from subscribed channels, while Music and Live offer their respective recommendations. Movies & TV appears in the top bar for viewers with active Primetime Channel subscriptions or YouTube TV add-ons; otherwise, it is available through More.
Grouping these destinations together could make switching between viewing intentions easier. Following a familiar creator, finding a live broadcast and exploring a new interest are different tasks, even when they begin on the same homepage.
Two details worth knowing before you start
Custom feeds are private to your account, but they do not isolate your viewing activity: videos watched through them enter your standard watch history and may influence Home recommendations.
YouTube also says a custom feed’s prompt expires after 30 days of inactivity.
That makes the feature most useful as a shortcut for interests you revisit. It gives viewers a place to express what they want in the moment, while leaving an important question for everyday use: how closely will the recommendations match the request?
