YouTube subscription list on TV app loses alphabetical order, no fix yet

Update 18/11/24: YouTube support on X now says this is an experiment for different layouts “to learn what people like / don’t like and what makes the viewing experience even better.”

Original article follows:

If you’ve recently tried finding your favorite channels in YouTube’s TV app, you might have noticed a frustrating new glitch. Alphabetical order in the subscription list has vanished, replaced by a completely random lineup that feels like trying to find a needle in a haystack. This unexpected change is ruffling feathers among YouTube viewers on devices like Chromecast with Google TV, Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, Samsung TV, and various gaming consoles.

The issue adds to a series of recent YouTube updates across its TV and console apps, such as the addition of adaptive thumbnails that adjust to better fit larger screens and AI-powered labels for improved content classification. These features were meant to enhance the experience, making video discovery easier and more visually engaging. Yet, this latest subscription glitch has thrown many users for a loop, underscoring the limits of these updates when basic navigation goes awry.

Reports have flooded in from users experiencing the issue on their TVs. On mobile and desktop, there’s still an easy fix for sorting subscriptions. Users can select “Sort by” and choose options like “Most relevant,” “New activity,” or the ever-comforting “A-Z” arrangement. But on the YouTube app for TV? No such luck. The option to organize subscriptions simply doesn’t exist.

In my own testing on Chromecast with Google TV, I confirmed that this change is real — and annoying for that matter. I’ve managed to keep my mobile subscriptions neatly alphabetized, but that organization doesn’t carry over to the TV app. For those who subscribe to a significant number of channels, the lack of an “A-Z” option makes navigation a chore.

On top of that, YouTube’s recent redesign added a more prominent “Subscribe” button to the Google TV and Android TV apps, aiming to encourage users to stay up-to-date with their favorite channels. But ironically, now that users are more likely to subscribe, finding those channels in a sensible order has become harder than ever.

What’s particularly odd is that this change seems to affect only the TV app, with YouTube on mobile and desktop still functioning as expected. Users have tried all the usual tricks — restarting devices, updating the app, and checking for any hidden settings that might offer a sorting option. But the list remains scrambled, with no apparent fix in sight.

This problem isn’t the only hiccup YouTube has addressed recently. Users on smart TVs and gaming consoles also reported a bug where the side menu for subscriptions and history went missing altogether. Thankfully, YouTube rolled out a fix, and now a quick app restart restores the full menu. However, with the alphabetical sorting glitch still in place, even finding channels on that restored menu feels more chaotic than helpful.

At this point, there’s no clear answer as to why YouTube has changed the subscription sorting feature on TVs or whether it’s part of a broader update. But for those of us who prefer streaming on the big screen, the situation is a mess. Until YouTube addresses the issue, TV viewers will be hoping for a quick fix — or keep the mobile app handy for more organized browsing.