Watch later, listen later: one list for YouTube, music and podcasts

How YouTube's Watch Later works

YouTube has a dedicated playlist for it: Watch Later. On iPhone, tap the three dots or Save on a video and choose Watch Later. You'll find the list under You (or Library), synced across your devices through your Google account.

It works, but it has three well-known weaknesses:

• The list only grows. Watched videos stay until you remove them yourself. After a few months, Watch Later is a pile of hundreds of entries.
• It only lives in YouTube. You can't put music, podcasts or audio dramas there.
• Other apps can't get in. YouTube doesn't hand the contents of Watch Later to other apps through its API. No third-party app can import or sync the list.

And “listen later” for music?

Apple Music has no real listen-later list. Your library is too big for it, Playing Next vanishes with the next playback, and a “Later” playlist clogs up just like YouTube's. Spotify has Your Library and a queue, but doesn't solve the problem across apps either.

Why later lists fail

Most later lists are inboxes without an exit. Saving takes one tap; removing never happens. Eventually the list is so long you stop opening it – and it misses the point. Add fragmentation: three apps with a later list each means three lists you forget.

A list that works needs three things:

1. One place for everything – video, album, episode.
2. Quick adding from any app, no detours.
3. An end: what you've watched or heard disappears. What no longer interests you, you swipe away.

Tips for YouTube's Watch Later

• Tidy up weekly. The playlist's three-dot menu has Remove watched videos. Instant breathing room.
• Set a cap. You won't watch more than 20 anyway. What falls off wasn't important.
• Don't save from the home feed. Recommendations fill the list with things you never looked for. How to use YouTube without that spiral is in YouTube without the algorithm.
• Treat long videos as podcasts. Interviews and talks don't need watching – you can listen on a walk or the commute.

One later list for everything with zentr

zentr doesn't have its own Watch Later playlist – it has something better: an inbox where everything you want to hear or watch later lands, wherever it comes from. Here's how:

• YouTube video: In the YouTube app, tap Share and choose zentr. The video lands in your inbox. A copied link works too.
• Album or song from Apple Music: In the Music app, Share → zentr. The album lands in your inbox; playlists are imported.
• Podcast: Apple Podcasts links can be shared too; you follow a show right in zentr.
• Work through it: From the inbox, drag what you want to hear into the queue – or swipe it away. When the inbox is empty, your “later” is done.

In the queue, video, album and podcast episode simply line up one after another. zentr plays YouTube videos either in the app or in the YouTube app – and remembers where you were. New videos from channels you follow arrive automatically, in chronological order, no recommendations.

To be honest: zentr can't take over your existing Watch Later list, because YouTube keeps it closed to other apps. That's also why there's no Google sign-in in zentr at all. Best to start fresh and share the ten videos that really matter to you.