Every once in a while, I find something really weird on YouTube that I want to watch but would rather not have in my history, messing with my recommendations. Thankfully, Google finally has a solution on mobile devices, borrowed from Chrome: Incognito mode.
The feature began testing back in May and, as spotted by 9to5Mac, is now rolling out widely to users. Just tap on your account avatar on the top-right of the screen and select “Turn on incognito.” When the mode is turned on, your avatar will be replaced by the incognito icon and you’ll see a thin black bar at the bottom reminding you’re undercover.
That said, don’t expect it to help you watch Rated-R content on YouTube. Despite generally living a PG-13 lifestyle, I tried to searching “violent horror movie deaths” and was met with a prompt asking me to sign in to confirm my age on a few of the results.
Because I have no desire to watch violent horror movie deaths, that’s fine by me, but just be aware Incognito mode won’t help you watch all NSFW content the way it might in your browser. It’s effectively the same as signing out of your account – just a bit more convenient.
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But hey, it works. Nothing I searched for in incognito mode showed up on my history. At the very least, it’s useful tool for managing my recommendations. The feature is only available on Android for now but I imagine it’s only a matter of time until it arrives on other platforms.
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