YouTube has begun muting push notifications on mobile devices from subscribed channels that users have not engaged with for at least a month. The change applies to channels with notifications set to 'all' and aims to reduce clutter while keeping alerts available in the app. Infrequent uploaders remain unaffected.
YouTube rolled out the update on April 21, starting with a feature tested earlier this year. The company hopes to prevent users from disabling notifications entirely due to overload, which could reduce platform engagement and revenue. Push alerts to mobile devices will stop for non-interacted channels, but notifications persist in the app's bell icon inbox for subscribed users who have opted for all alerts. YouTube noted that channels uploading infrequently will continue sending push notifications as before. This protects creators of long-form content from losing visibility with rare uploads. Users who resume watching such channels may see notifications restart, though details remain unclear. The adjustment targets notification fatigue without altering alerts for actively watched channels.
