YouTube App Is Reportedly Experimenting With a Red, Green, and Blue Colour-Based Video Feed

YouTube is reportedly testing a unique feature for its mobile app. The new feature gives users an option to pick between three colours — red, green, and blue — and then creates a separate video feed where all the suggested videos follow the same colour theme. Several users have reported seeing this new option, but it is believed that the feature has not reached a wider user base. The suggested videos do not have anything in common apart from the predominant colour in the thumbnail, as per reports.

According to a report by 9to5Google, the new feature was spotted on the YouTube mobile app. In the screengrab posted in the report, a card can be seen on the home screen with the message “Craving something new?” The card also comes with three colour options with hues of red, green, and blue. The bottom of the card reads, “Create a feed of videos based off colour, and enjoy exploring.” People using the YouTube app on both Android and iOS have reported seeing the same card.

Once a user selects a colour, a separate video feed emerges where all the recommended videos can be seen following the specific colour scheme. This will not replace your main home feed but will add a separate feed to the list of options you see at the top of the home page.

A couple of points to be noted here. First, the recommended videos have nothing in common apart from their predominant colour theme. They might be from a channel that you subscribe to or not, and they may not even be based on your watch history. Other details about the colour-coded feed are difficult to assert given we, at Gadgets 360, have not been able to verify the same.

Second, it is also difficult to say whether the colours are being picked just from the thumbnail or if the algorithm is analysing the entire video to determine the predominant colour present in the content. Colour-based recommendation is also a curious offering from YouTube, given that most users would prefer a thematic connection to the content instead. However, it could be for those who prefer a more aesthetic view of the app.

Some users on Lemmy, a social media platform, have suggested that this could be a way for YouTube to collect data, given advertisement and marketing space revolve a lot around colour theory. Certain colour schemes tend to get more engagement for the content. At the same time, it might just be a quirky feature.