As companies scramble to mimic Spotify’s Wrapped at every turn, even YouTube couldn’t turn a blind eye to the recap fever sweeping through the biggest apps at year-end. YouTube Music has long since offered customers a way to rewind time for a brief moment, but now regular ol’ YouTube is getting in on the fun with Recap.
“Recap was made for you, by you. This is reflected throughout the creation of this feature, with nine rounds of feedback and over 50 different concept testings before we landing (sic) on what you see today,” Google said in a blog post.
That’s a wrap!
YouTube requires access to your watch history before it can cobble a half-decent Recap together. Give it that — assuming it’s been on all year — and it’ll combine it all into 12 ‘cards’ that “uniquely highlights interests, deep dives, and moments you explored this year,” and puts your most-watched channels in the spotlight.
It’ll even attempt to cram users into one of 12 personality types depending on their watch history, like ‘Adventurer’, ‘Skill Builder’, or ‘Creative Spirit’. Google reckons that “the most common personalities were the Sunshiner, the Wonder Seeker, and the Connector, with the Philosopher and the Dreamer ending up as the more elusive and rare personas.” Just watch a couple of Vsauce videos, and you’ll snag a rare persona.
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YouTube Recaps isn’t available for everyone, at least night right away. Google confirmed that users in North America would get to play first, starting today, while the rest of the world will have to wait for it to turn up sometime this week. It’ll be available in 185 countries and spans 17 languages, Google said.
When the time comes, users can find their Recap right on the YouTube homepage or under the ‘You’ tab, via both mobile and desktop. Hitting this link is also an option, but clicking it at the time of writing simply took us to our profile on YouTube, with no Recap in sight.
