YouTube Launches Its Own Video Recap Feature
▼ Summary
– YouTube is launching a new “Recap” feature that provides users with up to 12 cards summarizing their notable video habits and interests from the past year.
– The feature is similar to Spotify’s Wrapped and assigns users a viewing “personality type,” such as Adventurer or Creative Spirit, based on their habits.
– Recap is launching first in the US and will roll out globally this week, accessible via the YouTube homepage or user menu on both mobile and desktop.
– It includes some music stats but does not replace the separate, existing YouTube Music Recap experience available within that app.
– Alongside the feature, YouTube shared popular trend charts for the US, showing top creators, podcasts, and songs, with some variation in popularity between Shorts and the main platform.
YouTube has introduced a new personalized feature called Recap, designed to give users a detailed look back at their most significant viewing habits over the past year. This tool generates up to twelve distinct cards that showcase your top channels, evolving interests, and how your video preferences have shifted. According to the platform, it aims to “uniquely highlight interests, deep dives, and moments” drawn directly from your watch history.
The experience draws clear inspiration from Spotify’s popular Wrapped campaign, a year-end tradition that other music services have also adopted. YouTube’s Recap feature will even assign users a “personality type” based on their viewing patterns, with categories like Adventurer, Skill Builder, and Creative Spirit. This mirrors the listening personalities Spotify creates for its users, applying a similar concept to video consumption.
Initially launching for users in the United States, the feature is set to become available worldwide within the week. It can be accessed on both mobile and desktop platforms. Users can find their Recap by clicking a dedicated button on the YouTube homepage or navigating to the “You” tab within the account menu.
While the new Recap includes some music-related statistics, such as top artists and songs, it exists separately from the existing YouTube Music Recap. The music-focused annual review, which details top artists, songs, genres, and podcasts, will remain available exclusively within the YouTube Music app. A support page confirms that music app users will continue to have “a separate YouTube Music Recap available within that app.”
Coinciding with this launch, YouTube released broader trend data highlighting what captivated American audiences this year. The charts reveal the most popular topics, creators, podcasts, and songs. Some findings are predictable: MrBeast remains the top creator and The Joe Rogan Experience holds the number one spot in the podcast rankings. A more curious insight shows the “KPop Demon Hunters” soundtrack, while dominating the general top songs chart, was notably less popular within the Shorts format.
(Source: The Verge)
