How following works
Every YouTube channel publishes a public RSS feed of its uploads. Watchlist reads those feeds directly from your device. That is the whole mechanism, and it has consequences worth knowing:
- No account is needed. There is nothing to sign into to follow a channel.
- Nothing is recommended to you. Watchlist only ever shows uploads from channels you added.
- Watchlist does not upload a saved follow list. Requests for each channel’s feed still go directly to YouTube.
Adding a channel
- Choose Add Channel (⌘N on Mac).
- Paste the channel’s @handle,
/channel/address, legacy/user/address, or a link to one of its videos. - Watchlist resolves the channel and adds it. You can paste another without closing the sheet.
Without your own API key, Watchlist asks its limited Wells Code service for the channel ID behind an @handle, legacy /user/ link or video link; it then reads that channel’s public RSS feed on your device. Direct /channel/UC… links use the feed without a lookup. Old /c/ custom links cannot be resolved through YouTube’s documented API; use that channel’s @handle instead. See Watchlist, YouTube and your data.
The Add Channel shortcut and widget do the same thing without opening the app first.
Follow as many channels as you want; the 14-day free trial and every payment option include the complete library.
Bringing your subscriptions across
Watchlist never signs in to your YouTube account, but Google will give you a copy of your subscriptions, and Watchlist can follow them all at once. This is marked Beta.
- Go to takeout.google.com, choose Deselect all, then tick YouTube and YouTube Music.
- Choose All YouTube data included, deselect everything except subscriptions, and create the export. Google emails you when it’s ready, usually within minutes.
- In Watchlist, choose Add Channel, then Import Your YouTube Subscriptions, and pick the ZIP Google sent. You’ll also find it under Settings ▸ Data.
Channels you already follow are skipped. So that a long list doesn’t fill Review, each new channel starts from today: its earlier uploads go straight to Dismissed, where you can still restore any you want. To have them in Review instead, turn off Start New Channels from Today in Settings ▸ Data before importing.
The file is read on your device. Nothing is sent to Wells Code.
File a channel into a collection
Right-click a channel on Mac, or touch and hold it on iPhone or iPad, then choose File in Collection. You can also select channels when creating or editing a collection.
The link adds existing Review, saved and watched videos from your library and files new uploads as they arrive. New uploads still wait in Review for your decision. Unlinking the channel stops future filing and leaves existing collection members in place. See Collections for the full workflow.
What happens to a channel’s new uploads
Each channel has a setting for its new uploads, on its page and in its menu in the channel list:
- Send to Review, the usual choice: new uploads wait in Review for you to save or dismiss.
- Auto-Save to Watch: new uploads skip Review and go straight to Watch. A bookmark beside the channel’s name shows it is on. When you switch a channel to Auto-Save, Watchlist tells you how many of its videos are still waiting in Review and offers Save Them.
- Mute: stops fetching new uploads while the channel stays followed. Useful for a channel that posts constantly and that you would rather check now and then.
The sidebar
Two settings under Settings ▸ Lists & Sorting shape the channel list:
- Sort Channels By: by name, or by the number of saved items waiting to watch.
- Show Channels Without Watch Items: hides channels with nothing waiting.