TIPS + TRICKS YOUTUBE

A billion hours of YouTube videos are devoured daily. If you suspect half of that is just you, Craig Grannell can help to make your viewing and creating time much less tragic...

- Craig Grannell

THE BASICS

Train the algorithm

You Tube runs largely on engagement, which means the algorithm feeds up 'more of the same'. So don't watch awful stuff out of morbid curiosity, unless you want to turn your feed into a torrent of rubbishness. Use the thumbs-up button on videos you enjoy, and the 'menu's 'Not interested' and 'Don't recommend channel' options.

Spend some cash

You'd best like ads, because there are loads of them. If not, fork out £12.99/m (£7.99 for students, £19.99 for a family of five) for Premium: the ads will vanish, and you'll get offline downloads, background playback and ad-free tunes on YouTube Music.

Set timers

In the 'You' tab, tap the cog, and then 'General'. Turn on the break reminder to stop yourself from becoming a YouTube zombie. Try the bedtime reminder if you binge YouTube Shorts until 3am. Keen on ambient vids to help you drift off? Pick a video, tap the cog, and toggle 'Loop video' under 'Additional settings'. And avoid holding your phone over your face as you doze off, unless you like being rudely walloped awake by your own tech.

Create for fun