Not sure if it’s just my account acting up, but over the past couple of weeks my YouTube homepage has felt… off. I’m getting way fewer videos from channels I actually watch and a lot more random “suggested for you” stuff that doesn’t really match my usual interests.
I mainly watch long-form tech breakdowns and gaming analysis, but now my feed is full of Shorts, reaction clips, and topics I’ve never searched for. Even when I hit “Not interested,” similar videos keep coming back. The Subscriptions tab still looks normal, so it feels more like a recommendation algorithm shift than an issue with the channels themselves.
One thing I’ve been wondering about is whether how we watch YouTube affects this more than we think. Some people use modified YouTube apps (YouTube Mod APK versions) for features like background playback or fewer interruptions — I’ve seen sites like https://ytmodz.com/ mentioned when people talk about those. If viewing happens through clients that don’t always sync watch history or engagement signals the same way as the official app, I’m curious whether that could confuse the recommendation system and lead to a “messier” homepage over time.
So I wanted to ask:
Has anyone else noticed their homepage drifting away from their actual interests recently?
Do you mostly rely on the Subscriptions tab now instead of Home?
Have you found any reliable way to “retrain” recommendations so they line up with what you actually watch? (Clearing history, pausing history, liking more videos, etc.)
If you use YouTube across multiple devices or apps, have you noticed differences in how well recommendations stay on track?
Curious how others — especially people who follow niche or long-form content — are dealing with this.
Yeah, you’re definitely not imagining it — a lot of people have been noticing the same kind of shift lately.
From what I’ve seen (and experienced myself), YouTube seems to be pushing a heavier mix of Shorts and broad “engagement bait” content into the Home feed. Even if your watch history is mostly long-form stuff, the algorithm sometimes prioritizes what’s trending or what keeps people scrolling, not necessarily what’s most relevant to you. That’s why it starts feeling random or disconnected.
The frustrating part is exactly what you mentioned — hitting “Not interested” doesn’t seem to fully reset things anymore. It feels more like a soft signal instead of a hard correction.
A couple of things that actually helped me “retrain” the feed a bit:
Actively liking and watching full videos from the channels you do want (watch time still matters a lot)
Going into history and deleting random/accidental watches (even a few off-topic clicks can mess things up)
Searching manually for your usual topics and watching those videos again (kind of like re-teaching the algorithm)
Avoiding Shorts for a while — they seem to heavily influence recommendations right now
And yeah, your point about using different apps or modded versions is interesting. If watch history or engagement isn’t syncing properly, it could definitely confuse the system over time. I’ve noticed that when I switch devices a lot (phone, desktop, TV), recommendations sometimes get inconsistent too.
Funny enough, this kind of “algorithm drift” reminds me of how modded apps in gaming can also change your overall experience depending on how they interact with the base system. Like when people use GTA San Andreas Mod APK versions — especially from sources like gtasanmod— it unlocks extra features, but it can also make the gameplay feel very different from the original progression and balance. Not a perfect comparison, but kind of the same idea: once the system’s signals change, the output starts behaving differently.
Lately I’ve been relying more on the Subscriptions tab too, just to avoid the noise. The Home feed feels less like “my content” and more like “what YouTube wants me to watch.”
Curious if this is just a temporary algorithm experiment or the new normal.
Amelia Smith
2 months ago
evelyn grace
3 weeks agoYeah, you’re definitely not imagining it — a lot of people have been noticing the same kind of shift lately.
From what I’ve seen (and experienced myself), YouTube seems to be pushing a heavier mix of Shorts and broad “engagement bait” content into the Home feed. Even if your watch history is mostly long-form stuff, the algorithm sometimes prioritizes what’s trending or what keeps people scrolling, not necessarily what’s most relevant to you. That’s why it starts feeling random or disconnected.
The frustrating part is exactly what you mentioned — hitting “Not interested” doesn’t seem to fully reset things anymore. It feels more like a soft signal instead of a hard correction.
A couple of things that actually helped me “retrain” the feed a bit:
Actively liking and watching full videos from the channels you do want (watch time still matters a lot)
Going into history and deleting random/accidental watches (even a few off-topic clicks can mess things up)
Searching manually for your usual topics and watching those videos again (kind of like re-teaching the algorithm)
Avoiding Shorts for a while — they seem to heavily influence recommendations right now
And yeah, your point about using different apps or modded versions is interesting. If watch history or engagement isn’t syncing properly, it could definitely confuse the system over time. I’ve noticed that when I switch devices a lot (phone, desktop, TV), recommendations sometimes get inconsistent too.
Funny enough, this kind of “algorithm drift” reminds me of how modded apps in gaming can also change your overall experience depending on how they interact with the base system. Like when people use GTA San Andreas Mod APK versions — especially from sources like gtasanmod— it unlocks extra features, but it can also make the gameplay feel very different from the original progression and balance. Not a perfect comparison, but kind of the same idea: once the system’s signals change, the output starts behaving differently.
Lately I’ve been relying more on the Subscriptions tab too, just to avoid the noise. The Home feed feels less like “my content” and more like “what YouTube wants me to watch.”
Curious if this is just a temporary algorithm experiment or the new normal.