Feedvault
Manifesto

YouTube without the algorithm.

Your subscriptions are a list you chose. Treat them like one.

The algorithm is not your friend. It does not work for you. It works for watch-time, and watch-time is not the same thing as the videos you actually wanted to see. This page is about getting the second one back.

Start for Free The argument
The thesis

YouTube is exceptional. The feed is the trap.

YouTube is, by accident, the largest free educational library humanity has ever built. The lectures, tutorials, talks, demonstrations, recipes, repair guides — all of it sits in the same archive as the Shorts, the rage-bait, the clickbait, and the dopamine slot machine of the home tab.

The platform is genuinely useful. The algorithm is the problem. Its job is to maximise time on site, and the cleanest way to do that is to keep you scrolling — surfacing whatever content is most likely to hold your attention next, not the content you came for.

For light viewers this is a feature. For anyone who uses YouTube to learn, follow long-form creators, or just keep up with channels they explicitly subscribed to, it is a daily fight. You did not subscribe to be recommended things. You subscribed because you want to see new uploads from these specific channels. The platform keeps forgetting that.

The only durable answer is to bypass the algorithm. Not fight it, not tame it with extensions, not negotiate. Use a different surface that fetches the same videos and presents them on your terms.

The four conditions

What "YouTube without the algorithm" actually means

Four conditions. All four must hold or you're still being managed by YouTube's optimisation function.

1. Chronological order

Videos sorted by publish date — newest first, oldest last. No "trending in your network." No "you might also like." Time is the only ranking function.

2. Only channels you chose

Nothing seeded in. No "based on your watch history." No surprise creators slipped into the feed because the algorithm thinks you'll engage. The set is closed and you control it.

3. No Shorts

Shorts exist to maximise watch-time per impression. They have no place in a feed designed for focus. Block them at ingestion — not hidden, not suppressed in the UI, never fetched.

4. No recommendations sidebar

No "Up Next." No autoplay. No "videos like this." When you click a video to watch it, watching it is the whole interaction. Coming back to your feed is your choice, not an autoplayed default.

You are not alone

What people are actually saying

Sentiments collected from Reddit, Hacker News, ResetEra, and the Cal Newport blog. The vocabulary is consistent across communities — there is a real, large constituency of people who feel exactly this way.

"The YouTube algorithm is so trash."

— recurring thread title, ResetEra

"YouTube Shorts ruined the platform. It should be its own app."

— common refrain, multiple subreddits

"YouTube is far better if you can completely bypass their algorithm."

— Hacker News comment

"I stopped chasing the algorithm and started enjoying YouTube again."

— Android Police

"YouTube is exceptional for learning. The feed is the trap."

— paraphrased from Cal Newport

What we built

Feedvault is the surface that doesn't have an algorithm

We did not try to fix YouTube's algorithm. We did not write a browser extension to hide things on top of YouTube. We built a parallel surface — a clean web app — where the four conditions above are non-negotiable from day one.

Channels go into Feeds. Feeds are chronological. Shorts (videos three minutes or shorter) never enter. Each Feed gets an emoji icon. You scroll the Feed; nothing scrolls at you.

Standout videos go into Studies — collections of individual saved videos with free-text notes. Your research notebook for YouTube. Save by URL, save by clicking the save icon on a video card in a Feed, write a note, move on.

That is the entire product. There is no algorithm. There is no "For You." There is no "Trending." There is the list of channels you chose and the videos you saved. Time is the ranking. You are the ranker.

Start for Free See Pricing
FAQ

Common questions

Can you actually use YouTube without the algorithm?

Not on youtube.com itself — every surface there is algorithm-driven, including the Subscriptions tab in the latest layouts. To use YouTube without the algorithm you need a different surface that fetches the same videos but presents them on your terms. That is what Feedvault is: chronological Feeds of channels you chose, with no recommendations, no Shorts, no autoplay sidebar.

What does "YouTube without algorithm" actually mean?

Four things: (1) only videos from channels you explicitly subscribed to, (2) sorted by publish date — not by what the algorithm thinks will keep you watching, (3) no recommendations or "Up Next" pulling you off course, (4) no Shorts hijacking your feed. Feedvault gives you all four.

Why does the YouTube algorithm feel worse over time?

YouTube is optimised for watch-time, and Shorts deliver more watch-time per impression than long-form. So the algorithm keeps surfacing Shorts, even in places (like the Subscriptions tab) where users explicitly didn't ask for them. The "Not interested" button doesn't stick. Bypassing the algorithm entirely is the only durable answer.

Is this just for tech people?

No. People who use YouTube heavily for any reason — homeschool parents, students, professionals tracking a niche, hobbyists, researchers — all hit the same wall. The algorithm serves YouTube's growth, not your focus.

Does Feedvault use machine learning to rank my feed?

No. Feedvault has no ranking algorithm. New videos from the channels you added show up in chronological order, newest first. The order is the order. That is the entire ranking system.

Can I still find new channels without the algorithm?

Yes — the same way people did before the algorithm was the only path: word of mouth, RSS, podcasts, friends. Feedvault makes it easy to add channels you find elsewhere by URL or name. What it does not do is shove channels at you.

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