YouTube Introduces New Yearly Recap Feature Similar to Spotify Wrapped

YouTube is introducing a refreshed end-of-year recap experience that offers users a personalised breakdown of how they interacted with the platform throughout the past 12 months. Designed to function similarly to Spotify Wrapped, this new feature visualises viewing habits, content preferences, and evolving interests in an engaging, easy-to-share format.

The rollout begins with users in North America, with availability expanding to additional regions by the end of the week.

What Is YouTube Recap?

A New Way to Reflect on Your YouTube Activity

According to the official YouTube blog, “Recap will appear on the homepage and can also be found under the ‘You’ tab on both mobile and desktop.”
The new experience aims to give viewers a clearer understanding of how they consumed content on YouTube throughout the year.

How the Recap Works

YouTube Recap pulls from a viewer’s watch history to highlight:

• The most-watched channels

• Recurring interests and topics

• Deep-dive content sessions

• Overall shifts in viewing patterns

• Major active periods and standout moments

Users will see up to 12 interactive cards, each designed to reveal different viewing insights from the past year.

Personalised ‘Personality Types’ Based on Watch History

A New Layer of Personalisation

One of the standout elements is the personality profile generated for each user.
YouTube states that “Recap also assigns a personality type based on overall activity.”
These profiles showcase what kind of viewer you are — whether you’re someone who explores new content or sticks to familiar genres.

Examples of Personality Types

• Adventurer

• Skill Builder

• Creative Spirit

• Sunshiner

• Wonder Seeker

• Connector

• Philosopher

• Dreamer

According to YouTube, some personality types appear more frequently:
“Sunshiner, Wonder Seeker and Connector emerging as the most common. Others, such as Philosopher and Dreamer, appeared less often, making them the rarer profiles in the system.”

Extended Insights for Music Listeners

Integration With YouTube Music

For users who rely heavily on YouTube for music, YouTube has extended this feature across listening behaviour as well.
The company said that “it includes the year’s top artists and songs, along with options to explore preferred genres, podcasts and international music choices through the YouTube Music app.”

This includes:

• Your most-played artists

• Top tracks and albums

• Favourite genres

• Regional and global music picks

• Podcast engagement

Designed to Reflect Behaviour, Not Just Numbers

Behaviour-Driven Experience

YouTube emphasised that its goal was to develop a recap experience based on viewer behaviour instead of offering plain numerical data.
According to the company, “the goal was to design an experience shaped by viewer behaviour rather than simply presenting raw statistics.”

This means Recap now focuses on:

• Motivations behind viewing choices

• Deep-dive sessions into niche content

• Shifts in user interests over time

• Emotional and thematic patterns in user engagement

Sharing and Saving Your Recap

Social Media-Friendly Cards

Users can save or share their Recap cards easily.
YouTube states that “the cards can be saved or shared, letting users reflect on their past year’s viewing habits or compare trends with others.”

These cards are optimised for posting on social platforms such as Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Threads, Snapchat, and WhatsApp.