The video platform YouTube appears to be testing an unusual new way for users to discover content: video feeds organized solely by color.
Several YouTube users on Android devices have reported seeing prompts inviting them to “Create a feed of videos based off color, and enjoy exploring.” The options presented are to browse videos predominantly featuring the colors red, blue, or green.
It is unclear what logic YouTube is using to categorize videos into these color feeds. Presumably, some form of automated analysis of video thumbnails or even the full video file is being used to determine a dominant hue. This ties into Google‘s broader embrace of dynamic and automated theme colors across its products.
However, the usefulness of browsing videos based primarily on color is questionable. There seems to be little inherent correlation between a video’s subject matter and its dominant visual shade. The color-coded feeds feel oddly out of place on a platform used mainly for searching and discovering content based on titles, descriptions, and recommendations.
This new discovery feature follows other experimental options YouTube has tested like “New to you” recommendations and floating action buttons to start auto-played video queues.
It remains to be seen whether color-sorted video feeds gain any traction among the platform’s two billion monthly active users. Some novelty-seeking browsers may enjoy the arbitrary organization. But the feeds seem more at home on a music platform like YouTube Music rather than the main YouTube video service.
For now, the color feed tests appear limited to small groups of Android users. Unless the feedback proves promising, even YouTube’s interface designers may eventually concede that good video recommendations tend to be black and white, not red and blue.
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