Similar to Google Chrome, YouTube app for Android now offers an Incognito Mode to let users watch videos without having their watch and search history recorded on the app
YouTube has added a new, private browsing mode to its Android app. Similar to Google Chrome, YouTube app for Android now offers an Incognito Mode to let users watch videos without having their watch and search history recorded on the app. YouTube Incognito mode can be enabled inside Account settings by tapping the profile picture located at the top right corner. There one can find a new option called “Turn on Incognito.” YouTube for Android app apparently replaced an earlier “Sign Out” button with this new option.
Once Incognito is enabled, YouTube app shows a message: “When you turn off Incognito or become inactive, your activity from this session will be cleared and you’ll return to the account last used. Your activity might still be visible to your employer, school, or internet service provider.” At the bottom, there appears a black bar with a text that reads “You’re incognito,” indicating the user has successfully enabled a private browsing mode.
When incognito, a profile picture of the user at the top right corner would be replaced by a spy (hat-and-sunglasses) icon, which is similar to Google Chrome’s incognito mode. Although users get an option to search for videos they are looking for, all current and previous YouTube search history will cease to exist. Meaning, upon tapping the search bar, users get a message “Search history is paused while you’re incognito.”
When incognito is active, users will not be allowed to see their subscriptions, messages or notifications in inbox and videos added to their library. However, they can access videos on the Home as well as the Trending section of the app. YouTube incognito mode is currently limited to the Android app, and there is no word or timeline when we can expect this private browsing feature to be added to the iOS app.