YT re:Watch

YT re:Watch – Local YouTube History Across Accounts (Firefox Add-ons Listing Draft)

Tired of losing your YouTube progress when switching accounts or watching logged out? YT re:Watch is a YouTube history extension that gives you account-independent, local-only history – ideal for multi-account users and anyone who prefers not to rely on Google’s built-in history.

What YT re:Watch Does

• Keeps your watch history and progress locally in your browser
• Shows which videos you have already watched, with progress indicators
• Works whether you are logged in, logged out, or switching between accounts
• Provides analytics and search for your local YouTube history

Note: There is no automatic cloud sync. Use Export/Import to move history between browsers or devices manually.

Account Independence

• Same local history across all YouTube accounts in the same Firefox profile
• Works even if you are not logged in to YouTube
• Smooth work/personal workflows without losing progress when switching accounts
• Predictable behavior on shared machines: each Firefox profile has its own history

Visual Progress Tracking on YouTube

• Configurable "viewed" label on thumbnails to show watched videos
• Progress bars indicating how much of each video you have watched
• Separate tracking for YouTube Shorts
• Automatic resume: when possible, videos reopen near your last watched position

Local-Only YouTube History

• Uses the browser’s extension storage and IndexedDB only
• Does not send your history to external servers
• Does not use or depend on YouTube’s own history feature
• Lets you watch without filling YouTube’s history or affecting recommendations

Export and Import

YT re:Watch uses a hybrid local storage architecture. Cross-device usage is intentionally manual, to keep your data under your control:

• Export History
• Download your complete history (videos, playlists, and stats snapshot) as a JSON file
• Use as a backup or to analyze your viewing habits with external tools
• Import History
• Restore or merge history from a JSON export
• Two modes:
  • Merge: combine imported history with existing local data
  • Replace: overwrite existing history with the imported file

Key Features

• Account-independent history within a Firefox profile
• Customizable overlays (text, color, and size) via the Settings tab
• Automatic progress saving at regular intervals during playback
• Smart search and pagination in the popup history view
• Auto-clean options, including:
• Fixed retention (for example, 30, 90, or 180 days)
• A "forever" mode that disables age-based cleanup
• Analytics tab with:
• Total watch time
• Completion rates (how often you finish videos)
• Viewing patterns by day and hour
• Top channels and longest unfinished videos

Privacy and Limitations

What YT re:Watch protects:

• Your YouTube viewing history and progress are stored locally in Firefox
• Playback position and playlist information are kept in the browser, not on Google’s servers

What YT re:Watch does not protect against:

• IP address tracking
• Cookies and browser fingerprinting
• YouTube’s recommendation algorithms or advertising systems
• Any third-party trackers embedded on YouTube

For broader privacy, you should combine YT re:Watch with:

• A privacy-focused browser profile and containerization
• Content blockers and script blockers
• Optional VPN and DNS filtering tools

YT re:Watch focuses specifically on local YouTube history and progress tracking; it is one component in a larger privacy setup.

Who Benefits Most

• Users with multiple YouTube accounts (work, personal, side projects) who want consistent progress within a Firefox profile
• Privacy-conscious users who want YouTube history without giving that history to Google
• Students and researchers who need reliable local tracking for long-form content
• People who frequently watch long videos and want a clear, persistent view of what they have finished and what remains

Technical Notes

• Browser: designed and tested for modern Firefox, with a compatible build for Chromium-based browsers
• Storage:
• Local overlay in browser.storage.local for recent and active data
• IndexedDB archive for large histories (scales to very large numbers of videos)
• Implementation:
• Content scripts track video playback and send updates to a background worker
• Popup reads from the hybrid storage layer to render Videos, Shorts, Playlists, and Analytics
• Open source:
• Source code and documentation are available on GitHub
• Issues and feature requests are tracked publicly

Support and Documentation

• User guide and FAQ: Included in the project documentation and linked from the extension popup
• Bug reports and feature requests: Filed via GitHub Issues
• Community: Optional chat channel for discussion and help

YT re:Watch is built for users who want reliable, account-independent YouTube history that stays on their machine, with clear trade-offs and transparent privacy boundaries.