code-charity
Add "Last watched x time ago" text as thumbnail overlay
⚬ PROBLEM:
Sometimes when looking for something comfy to rewatch, or just browsing/gathering videos for a queue or playlist, I can't remember when I last watched something.
⚬ SOLUTION:
A small text overlay tucked in the corner of thumbnails, displayed on mouse-over, telling you when you last watched the video, if watch history data is available of course, eg. "Last watched 5s ago" Settings could include a toggle for relative/exact date and time, preferred corner, text size/opacity etc. Also, and this is probably not likely to be fair, maybe watch history could be imported locally from the users /youtube/google account, as a one-time supplement to the extensions watch tracker.
⚬ ALTERNATIVES:
Can't think of any.
⚬ RELEVANCE / SCOPE:
A bunch of people will probably think it's redundant clutter or unnecessary information to be given and disable it/not enable it, so having it be opt-in is probably better. At the same time, I suspect that those who try it will wonder where it was all their life.
⚬ "SIDE EFFECTS":
If implemented just as a thumbnail overlay without appearance settings/options for displaying it somewhere else, the overlay might feel like it's in the way for 40-50% of average users, maybe more. But if relevant settings are available and the defaults are sensible, I can see most people appreciating the feature.
⚬ CONTEXT: // Thank you!
| SHORT Table | (Summary) |
|---|---|
| Problem | I lack relevant watch history per-video when browsing |
| Solution | Implement text, eg. "Last watched 2 months ago", with options for appearance - on thumbnail, below title etc. |
| Alternatives | None |
| Scope | I think most will appreciate the feature being available, but it could be annoying to some, so should not be default. |
| Side effects | If appearance is subtle/non-obtrusive and settings are available, I can see most people liking the feature. |
| Context |
@ImprovedTube Hello Maintainers, I would like to give this one a shot. Please assign this it to me. Thanks.
Yeah, I was hoping to get assigned to it so I’d know they would merge it. Anyway, I’ll start implementing it.
Hi! I’ve opened a Pull Request that adds a “Last watched” badge to video thumbnails.
Summary:
Shows a small “Last watched …” text on thumbnails for videos you’ve seen before. Tested on Search results and the History-Page.
The badge is always visible when activated (not only on hover). This makes it much easier to spot already watched Videos without having to hover on each Video to find out. You can show “Watched (4d ago)” or an exact date/time. You can choose the corner where the badge appears.
Settings:
General → “Show ‘Last watched’ overlay on thumbnails” General → “Time format” (Relative | Exact) General → “Overlay position” (Top/Bottom, Left/Right)
Privacy and policy notes
No account sign‑in or server access. No importing or scraping your Google/YouTube history.
Anyway there is no known API from Google that delivers Date/Time data and no easy workaround for this. This means:
The badge uses a local watch history stored only in your browser. It marks videos you watch on this device and in this browser profile. Nothing is uploaded or shared; clearing browser/extension data removes it. There’s no sync across devices or profiles.
PR: https://github.com/code-charity/youtube/pull/3118
I hope this Pull Request gets attention.
Feedback is welcome!