YouTube is widely famous as a video sharing platform and was founded in 2005 by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim. Google later acquired it in November 2006 for US$1.65 billion. Since then, the platform has been improved a lot and it allows users to create a channel of their own, upload videos, monetize and earn money as well. The service is free to use, but there is a premium ad-free version, ‘YouTube Premium.’
Google every now and then rolls out new features to the YouTube platform and since its acquisition, it came a long way both in terms of reach among the masses, but also in terms of the user base. One of the reasons behind this success is mostly because it is free to use and also the creators who put out such an amazing content. As mentioned, Google consistently rolls out new features and recently it introduced the Incognito mode. Not everyone, but more often than not, we want to watch specific videos on YouTube and not have it show up in our history, the stuff that we want to keep it to ourselves. The new ‘Incognito mode’ lets you go undercover without leaving any trace of the stuff you watch.
This feature is currently available on Android, with no timeline mentioned for the iOS roll out. Prior to this update, there were many workarounds to go incognito, but with this new addition has no use for them. Though if you are connected to a network that is being monitored, there’s a chance you will leave a trace behind. Let’s get started to see how you can turn on the incognito mode on YouTube.
Here’s how to use new Incognito mode on YouTube:
- Firstly, you need to have the updated YouTube app. Since every Android phone packs YouTube app, you just have to update it to the latest version.
- In case you are running an old version, open Play Store, search YouTube and see if there’s an update waiting for you. Tap on the update button and wait till it does its job.
- Post update, open the YouTube app from the app drawer
- Now once the app is loaded completely, tap on the avatar icon on the top corner of the app.
- Now in this screen, you will see various options like My channel, paid memberships, switch accounts, and finally, ‘Turn on Incognito’.
- Tap on the Turn on Incognito option and it will throw a pop-up indicating that you have turned on the incognito mode. At the bottom of the main screen, you will see a notice saying “you’re incognito” this is to keep you aware that you are using YouTube in the incognito mode.
- Do note that while you are in the incognito mode, your subscriptions are hidden. Even the avatar on the right corner will be replaced with an incognito icon.
- Now that you have gone incognito, you can browse and watch any video you want and the app will no longer save it in your search history.
Conclusion: This is how you can go incognito on YouTube and watch whatever you want without being tracked back or storing in the history. YouTube has this peculiar functionality where it keeps suggesting you the videos based on your watch history, and sometimes we get annoyed with this behavior. This new going incognito will save you from this so you can watch videos of your choice and not worry about seeing suggestions in the future. Try out this method and let us know what do you think about it and how much did it help you.
