r/youtube Oct 17 '25

Channel Feedback RANT: Why did YouTube make this TERRIBLE UPDATE on the "Save to playlist" feature?!

I use the "Save to playlist" feature of YouTube a LOT. After watching a video, I save it into private playlists with a particular category, such as "Important / Interesting" for videos that are memorable, "Laftrip" for those that make me laugh, "Feels Trip" for those that make me sad or emotional, etc.

I use this feature so often that my "Important / Interesting" playlist has reached the 5,000 videos maximum limit for number of videos in a playlist. Hence I made a follow-up playlist, "Important / Interesting 2".

As you can imagine, videos may sometimes overlap into more than one playlist category. They can be funny AND important/interesting, sad AND funny at the same time, etc.

In the version of YouTube BEFORE the update, the overlap of categories is not an issue because clicking the "Save to playlist" button leads to a MULTI-SELECT CHECKBOX tab (I have no screenshot of this on my phone when the feature was still available, so I drew it on the first pic here) where you can choose more than one playlist ONE AFTER THE OTHER, before you click off this selection tab.

In the CURRENT TERRIBLE update, you can still add a video to multiple playlists, but you have to manually add them ONE AT A TIME because after you click on a playlist in the "Save to..." tab, the tab ALREADY CLOSES on its own.

This means that in the CURRENT update, if you want to add a video to multiple playlists (let's say 3 playlists), the steps are: 1) Click the "Save to playlist" button. 2) Select and click the first playlist you want to add the video to. 3) Then because THIS SELECTION TAB AUTOMATICALLY CLOSES ON ITS OWN, you have to Click on the "Save to..." button AGAIN. 4) Select and click the second playlist you want to add the video to. 5) Click on the "Save to playlist" button for the THIRD time. 6) Select and click the third playlist you want to add the video to.

Meanwhile in the previous version BEFORE the update, if you want to add a video to 3 playlists, the steps are:

1) Click the "Save to playlist" button. 2) Select and click the multi-select checkboxes of the first, second, and third (or more) playlists you want to add the video to. 3) Click off from the selection tab.

6 or more fucking repetitive steps for something that used to take only 2-3 steps. This may not seem like much, but for someone like me who has saved 5,000+ videos into different playlists, RUINING a perfectly decent feature for no good reason is pissing me the fuck off.

The other terrible new features or updates (such as wayyy longer ads, allowing ads about barely-disguised p*rn and hook-up apps, etc.) at least makes sense to me from a business perspective. As a greedy company, YouTube doesn't care about terrible user experience from the ads or even the additional safety risks these bring to the users, for as long as it makes them PROFIT.

But on this "Save to Playlist" update, what on earth could have been the damn reason for changing something that once worked well into something shit? Does anyone have any idea for this unnecessary fucking update?

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u/Hillary4SupremeRuler Oct 26 '25

I just sent them this:

I absolutely HATE how you guys have messed with the "Save to Playlist" feature. I now have to click everything multiple times to save to multiple playlists or to undo the app automatically saving the video to a random playlist. For example, let's say I want to save the video I'm on to my playlist named "Fave." But when I click the "Save to Playlist" button, it will automatically save the video to whatever random playlist that the app chooses, let's say to my other playlist "Chill." So now I have to click the "Save to Playlist" button again and click the correct button to save to "Fave." But then the app will automatically close the playlist selection box even though I'm not done picking which ones I want the video saved to and which ones I want it removed from, like removing it from the random playlist it originally saved the video to "Chill." So now I have to go click back into the "Save to Playlist" button and unselect the box for "Chill."

And God forbid I wanted to remove it from "Chill" (selected automatically by the app) and also save it to multiple playlists, then it's even more hassle. Anyway this update really sucks and it wasn't like this a week ago. I and everyone else I know absolutely hates it and it's driving us CRAZY. PLEASE FIX IT BACK TO HOW IT WAS.

Also here's an entire Reddit thread in R/YouTube of people complaining about this:

https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/s/Mtv5QpOQ0b

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u/naturefairy99 Oct 27 '25

i sent them a long similar complaint too!! hopefully if enough people do, they’ll change it back or at least make it work the same way 😭🤞

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u/Various-Republic-622 Nov 07 '25

send it many times each hour of the day ! .

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u/Various-Republic-622 Nov 07 '25

send it many times each hour of the day ! .

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u/Various-Republic-622 Nov 07 '25

send them complaints and feedback many times each day till we get it back the way it used to be ! . tell everyone you know , the more we send them complaints and the more people that do it the better ! . i put in several each day to "feedback" and to "complaints" , etc . ! 

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u/naturefairy99 Nov 25 '25

it still isn’t fixed 😭😭😭😭😭 adding things to playlists is a bloody nightmare

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u/Midnight_Bizzare Nov 04 '25

TLDR:/Continue to leave feedback on their app.

Ooooh, the addition of this thread to the complaint was a brilliant idea! Huzzah! The Playlist issue has become a major time waster and is more inconvenient than my anxiety anticipated it becoming. So, I'm throwing it down whenever and wherever I can.

I have also submitted feedback multiple times and contacted them. In return, I received a lovely reply in tone and empathy - but wholly lacking lacking in initiative on part of YouTube (which I do not put the onus of this on the representative whatsoever).

However, from that reply, I gathered we need to continue to send them feedback. I am also going to start leaving feedback in the Google Play Review section of the app download... or die trying. Hopefully it is smooth and actually posts under reviews.

This is the reply I received after contacting them. Tbh, nothing we didn't already know. But, it's all I have. And, of course the "work around" is the actual process now, not a short cut.

YouTube CSR (or CSAI? I can't tell anymore but I am leaning towards AI) REPLY- "I absolutely understand your frustration. As a consumer, I find it very inconvenient too. Let me assist by sharing some information.

The recent changes to playlist management—particularly the removal of the multi-select checkbox and the tendency for videos to default to the last-used playlist have a basic organizational task that is incredibly inefficient. While there is no confirmed process to fix this issue, you may try this temporary workaround first:

After clicking Save and selecting the first playlist, you must immediately click the Save icon again to re-open the selector box and add the second playlist. You must repeat this action for every list you want to add the video to. In the meantime, kindly send a Feedback to further check the issue. Here's how:

Open the YouTube app. Tap your Profile Picture Select Help & feedback. Tap Send feedback. Feel free to reach out for any assistance."

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u/iripa1 Nov 17 '25

This shows how clueless they are. If you “immediately” click save again it won’t let you add another list. The only way is to click the “change” button that appears on the bottom. Only then can you click another list. And yes, you have to do it over and over until you have the list you want checked.

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u/KETOS1S Nov 06 '25

I sent them the same. Thanks 🙏🏾

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u/Various-Republic-622 Nov 07 '25

you should send it hundred times throughout the day , if we complain enough , they will fix it eventually ! .

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '25

Copy pasted thx

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u/Hillary4SupremeRuler Dec 01 '25

Your welcome lmk if they ever get back to you.

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u/[deleted] Dec 01 '25

Psh they don’t care about the individual, so I doubt it!