TikTok (finally) tests a watch history feature

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TikTok users are finally getting a much-needed feature: watch history. Developers are reportedly testing it out in the app with a select group of users. Here’s what we currently know about it.

The new watch history feature on TikTok was initially revealed in a tweet by Matt Navarra on March 26, 2022, with a screenshot from Hammod Oh.

Insiders and screenshots indicate that the watch history button will be stored in your settings tab in the TikTok app once it launches. TikTok’s version will be very similar to YouTube’s watch history. It’s unclear whether or not you’ll be able to pause the feature, though.

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#TikTok is testing adding a watch history feature in the app pic.twitter.com/zFLn6uYSUr

— Hammod Oh (@hammodoh1) March 26, 2022

Everyone on TikTok has had that moment when you remember a video you watched at some point but can’t seem to find it again. Maybe you forgot to save it to your favorites or can’t remember the creator’s name.

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Whatever the case, it’s a pretty common problem on TikTok. It might sound minor, but it gets pretty annoying after a while. 

The new watch history feature will solve this problem. TikTok developers have not yet revealed when it will go live for all users. However, if they’re testing it in-app right now, we can expect it to be available within the next few months. 

Watch history will add a much-needed accessibility and quality-of-experience feature, as well. Considering that TikTok has an extremely diverse range of users, including many of the 34% of older adults on social media platforms, functionality updates like this are important for growth. 

How to find your watch history right now

Until the watch history feature finally drops on the TikTok app, there are a couple of other ways to find videos you’ve already watched.

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Neither of these methods is perfect, but they can help you track down a video if you accidentally refreshed your For You page or forgot to copy a share link. 

Using Search

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The best way to hunt down videos you’ve already watched is by using a hidden feature in TikTok’s search function. If you navigate to the Discover tab at the bottom of the app and type any keyword in the search bar, you can pull up relevant videos you’ve already watched.

For example, you could search for “#trending” and tap the filters button next to the search bar. From there, just toggle on the Watched Videos option (shown above).

Even if you watched a video and didn’t get a chance to favorite it, it will come up in this search.

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Unfortunately, the search function trick only works for videos you’ve watched in the past seven days, so that funny cat video you remember from a few months ago may be lost for good.

Using Favorites

The best way to prevent losing videos in the first place is to save them to your favorites. There’s no limit on how many videos you can save to your favorites, and it’s not even public on your account.

There’s no harm in favoriting one even if you’ve just saving it for later. Liking a video will also add it to your liked videos, which you can make private on your account. 

When will watch history go live?

TikTok has not announced when the new watch history feature will go live on the app. However, it will likely be very soon. TikTok actively testing a new feature in-app is a sure sign it’s gearing up to launch it.

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Unless something goes wrong or TikTok decides not to add watch history after all, we can expect the new feature to drop within the next few months.

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