Watchlist is independent of YouTube and Google. Because it shows YouTube content, it makes a small number of connections that are worth understanding individually. These are the same disclosures the app shows you before you start.
Public RSS feeds
Channel and upload details come from each channel’s public RSS feed. Watchlist stores the channels and videos you keep in your private app library, and syncs that library to your own private iCloud database when iCloud is available.
Adding a channel
A direct /channel/UC… link needs no lookup. If you add a channel by @handle, legacy /user/ link or video link without your own API key, Watchlist sends only that handle, username or video ID to Wells Code over HTTPS. Its service asks Google’s YouTube Data API for the channel ID and returns only that ID. It does not store the lookup mapping or your saved follow list. A keyed hash of your IP address is held briefly to limit misuse; ordinary hosting logs may also contain your IP address, the service endpoint and request time. The handle, username or video ID is in the request body, not the service URL.
Importing subscriptions
When you import your YouTube subscriptions from Google Takeout, Watchlist reads the file on your device and follows each channel over its public feed, as if you’d added it by hand. Watchlist never signs in to your Google account, and the file isn’t uploaded anywhere.
Playback and signing in
Before embedded playback, Watchlist sends the chosen video’s ID to Wells Code over HTTPS. Its service asks Google whether the video is designated Made for Kids and permits embedding. It keeps a keyed hash of the video ID for five minutes and an hourly keyed hash of the requesting IP address to limit misuse. If it cannot approve in-app playback, Watchlist offers to open the video on YouTube instead.
Playing an approved video, or signing in, loads YouTube web content. Google and YouTube receive the normal web request and may store cookies in Watchlist’s private web-data container until you sign out. Signing in is optional and useful if you have YouTube Premium.
The optional API key
If you add a YouTube Data API key, it is stored only in this device’s data-protection Keychain. Handle, legacy-username and video-link lookups then go directly to Google’s API, as do optional metadata requests for channel artwork, duration and view count. Removing the key stops those direct requests. See Adding a YouTube Data API key.
What is kept
Your saved channels and videos stay until you remove them. Optional API-supplied handles, artwork, durations and view counts stop appearing after 29 days unless refreshed; active devices periodically refresh or remove them. Offline devices and private iCloud copies may retain them until an updated device runs and syncs. Signing out clears YouTube web data. Settings ▸ Data ▸ Delete Watchlist Library removes your library.
What never happens
- Watchlist never downloads YouTube video or audio.
- There is no Wells Code account. The two limited Wells Code services above handle a single lookup or playback check at a time; they do not store your library.
- Watchlist does not upload a saved follow or queue list to Wells Code, Google or YouTube. Feed, playback, sign-in and optional direct API requests reach Google or YouTube as described above.
The relevant third-party terms, the YouTube Terms of Service and Google Privacy Policy, are linked from Settings ▸ About.