If you are not particularly fond of this format that has made such a fortune as short vertical videos, you are in luck. In a surprising move, YouTube has deployed an update to its app, both in Android as in iOSwhich gives the user the ability to disable the YouTube Shorts feed.
This possibility comes through the panel ‘Time management’which last October introduced the option of putting a cap on the consumption of short videos. It offered several options, between 2 hours and 15 minutes a day, but Google now allows you to reduce that limit to zero.
The option is available for both normal adult profiles and teen accounts managed through Google Family Link. It is a useful tool for parents who want to prevent their child from being trapped in an infinite scroll of Shorts on their mobile.
To activate it, just go to the tab ‘You’in the lower right corner of the YouTube app, tap the icon Settingsopen the panel ‘Time management’ and select ‘Shorts feed limit’. From there, you can set the zero minutes to cut off the feed.
Platforms have long offered reminders of ‘Take a break’ or small notices for make users believe they are in control of their viewing experience. However, the ability to disable infinite scrolling in Shorts is a welcome development in that direction, because it represents a real barrier, not a simple suggestion.
This move also says a lot about what YouTube’s core business is. The company is not afraid to allow users to forgo scrolling through Shorts, while, to TikTokthe infinite feed of short videos is practically the entire product and, to Goal, Reels is the key growth engine that keeps users engaged instagram and Facebook. And while Shorts generates huge engagement numbers for Google, YouTube remains the undisputed king when it comes to long-form video.
Keep in mind that this option is only available in the app and that activating it does not transfer the configuration to the web. In a browser, you will still be able to access the Shorts and view them with addictive normality. In the app, The selection that YouTube shows in the feed disappears and, if you click on the Shorts tab, a message will appear informing you that you have reached the limit of the Shorts feed, without showing any other content. Yes indeed, the message gives you both the option to change the limit in the settings and to ignore it for a day.