YouTube is reportedly testing a new feature within its iOS and Android mobile applications—a filtering option that allows users to organise their video feeds based on... colour preferences. Reports from 9to5Google and discussions on Lemmy indicate that select users have encountered a prompt window inviting them to explore this experimental feature, presenting options to filter their home feeds by red, blue, or green hues.
"Craving something new?" asks a window on YouTube for Android that then offers to "Create a feed of videos based off color, and enjoy exploring."
Confirming the experiment, YouTube spokesperson Allison Toh informed The Verge that "the feature is being trialed among a subset of Android and iOS mobile devices." However, YouTube hasn't yet disclosed the rationale behind developing such a feature nor provided any details on when it'd be publicly rolled out.
How does the feature work?
Upon selecting a colour filter, users see a distinct feed option at the top of the YouTube app, showcasing videos curated based on the colour schemes. The precise method of filtering remains unclear, but 9to5Google assumes that YouTube might be looking at the thumbnail and the full video "to define the predominant hue."
Seemingly, the feature serves purely aesthetic purposes, lacking any thematic or content-based organisation. Selecting a colour filter doesn’t replace your existing homepage feed, either, as The Verge notes. "I just used it and I thought it was kind of cute. It’s obviously 'useless,' but as a small (I assume temporary) change I thought it was interesting to see how different 'genres' of videos tend to color code themselves in the thumbnail," shares one user on Lemmy. "Perhaps I'm too oldschool, but I prefer choosing a video to watch based on said video's topic," notes a user on Reddit.
But what's interesting is how YouTube is going to tout this feature for those users with colour blindness. Seems like a new task to keep the dev team engaged instead of fixing more valid issues.
