YouTube's Custom Feeds finally let you tell the algorithm what to show you

YouTube routinely tests new features with a limited set of users before rolling them out more widely. Back in April, we stumbled upon a similar experimental option called "Your Custom Feed," which regenerates a fresh home feed based on text prompts. Following a few months of testing, YouTube is finally ready to bring this feature to more users.

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For the first time, I can tell YouTube what I want to watch instead of the other way around

This fixes my biggest problem with recommendations

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By  Ben Khalesi

According to a blog post detailing the viewer-focused announcements from the Made On YouTube event, the feature is now simply known as "Custom Feeds," though the underlying functionality remains unchanged. The visual shared by YouTube shows a prominent Custom Feeds button as the first option in the horizontal row of topic filter chips directly below the search bar.

YouTube says you can create multiple feeds using text prompts, giving you instant access to a specific type of home feed based on your mood or time of day. Custom Feeds will roll out "soon" to YouTube customers in the US across mobile, web, and TVs, with no specific release timeline provided.

Additionally, the streaming platform is announcing an update to the Ask YouTube experience "to make your shopping journey easier." As part of this shopping upgrade, YouTube says viewers will find categories, comparison tables, and other info while searching for product reviews. After finding a video to watch, users can ask additional questions via Ask YouTube about the product itself without leaving the watch page.

YouTube Music is also getting some new features

In addition to the YouTube upgrades we mentioned above, a couple of new YouTube Music features were also announced.

Prominent among them is "Your podcast lineup," described as a weekly "personalized AI-audio guide" that gives you voice-based recommendations for shows you should get into next. Additionally, YouTube Music is updating Ask Music to let you "customize your queue or dive deeper into artist lore."

These features are "coming soon" globally to YouTube Music users, the streaming giant's blog post reads, while we presume the weekly podcast preview feature will require a Premium subscription. Again, no specific date was provided, but we expect it to land soon, especially since some of these features have been available as experiments for a while.

While we're not big fans of platforms stuffing AI features into their products with every other update, I wouldn't mind trying out Custom Feeds and YouTube Music's Your podcast lineup when they become widely available.