Where Is the YouTube Subscriptions Tab? It Moved to Home

If the question is where is the YouTube subscriptions tab, the short answer is that it hasn't disappeared. YouTube relocated it. On iPhone and Android, the tab is now labeled "Subs" and lives inside the Home tab's new top bar, according to 9to5Google and AndroidPure.

To find it, open the app, tap Home, then tap Subs, which sits second in that top row, right after Home itself (AndroidPure). Anyone used to tapping the bottom bar for subscriptions now needs to reach for the top of the screen instead (iThinkDiff).

YouTube announced the change in a TeamYouTube Help Community post, and that post doesn't specify an exact rollout schedule (AndroidPure). It affects iPhone and Android users running the YouTube app, though which app versions or regions see it first hasn't been spelled out.

Where did the YouTube Subs tab go on iPhone and Android?

Subscriptions had held the fourth slot in YouTube's bottom bar since 2017, according to 9to5Google. With Subs gone, the bottom bar is down to four icons: Home, Shorts, the create button, and You, based on YouTube's own before-and-after graphic cited by AndroidPure.

9to5Google also reports that the redesign removes YouTube's side navigation drawer entirely (9to5Google). Neither that report nor YouTube's own announcement explains where the drawer's other shortcuts have gone, so what replaces them in the app is still an open question.

YouTube hasn't published a rollout schedule for any of this. The TeamYouTube post that announced the change doesn't say where or when the new layout is reaching users (AndroidPure), which means some readers may open the app this week and still see the old bottom-bar Subscriptions tab while others already have the new layout.

Why did YouTube move subscriptions off the bottom bar?

YouTube says the redesign is meant to give viewers "more direct access to what you love," framing it as the start of "a series of updates to shape a more seamless Home experience" built around "a redesigned top bar featuring dedicated feeds and personalized features," according to AndroidPure.

The layout wasn't built overnight. 9to5Google reports that YouTube began testing it earlier this year, which means the design had already gone through months of internal testing before this week's public announcement.

AndroidPure describes the shift as a design tradeoff worth noticing: the channels someone chooses to follow now sit inside Home, one tap deeper than the old bottom-bar shortcut, sharing the same top bar with algorithm-driven feeds like Live and Music (AndroidPure).

YouTube Home tab subscriptions feed now shares space with new content tabs

Subs isn't the only addition to that top bar. YouTube added dedicated feeds for Live, Music, and Movies & TV, which appear alongside Subs across the row, according to 9to5Google and iThinkDiff. The Movies & TV feed only shows up for viewers with active paid YouTube content, such as Primetime Channels (SammyGuru).

Alongside the navigation change, YouTube introduced Custom Feeds, a tool for building a personalized tab around a topic, a set of channels, or a mood (9to5Google). It works differently enough from the Subs move that it's worth walking through on its own.

How YouTube's Custom Feeds work

To build one, tap the "+" at the top of Home and describe what's wanted in plain language. YouTube's own example asks for help unwinding after work with "guided meditations under 10 minutes," and the app assembles a feed around that description (9to5Google).

Once built, a custom feed is saved as its own tab at the top of the screen, appearing after Home and Subs so it's one tap away going forward (9to5Google). Each feed keeps a prompt box at the top that lets it be redefined without starting over from scratch (SammyGuru).

Feeds built on a phone sync to desktop when the viewer is signed into the same Google account on both (AndroidPure). Free accounts can keep up to three active custom feeds at a time, while YouTube Premium subscribers can save as many as eight (SammyGuru; 9to5Google).

YouTube first previewed the feature last month, describing it as a way to "curate your own front page" for specific moods, routines, or interests, and said it would reach web, mobile, and TV "soon" (YouTube Blog). This week's coverage confirms mobile and desktop availability; TV hasn't come up in the reporting on the current rollout, so that part of the original promise remains unverified.

What to check before relying on YouTube's new Custom Feeds

Access is narrower than the Home redesign itself. YouTube says Custom Feeds are rolling out to signed-in viewers in the US who are 13 or older, working in English on mobile and desktop (AndroidPure; iThinkDiff).

There's a privacy condition attached that's easy to overlook. Custom Feeds require search history to be turned on, and viewers who have switched it off can't use the feature (AndroidPure). Anyone who doesn't see the "+" button after updating the app may simply have that setting disabled rather than running into a bug.

YouTube says it's working on bringing Custom Feeds to more users and regions, without offering a timeline (AndroidPure). That commitment covers Custom Feeds specifically. YouTube hasn't said whether the broader Home navigation redesign is also headed for wider release or already covers every market.

What's confirmed for the redesign, and what isn't

The navigation change, meaning Subs moving into Home's top bar alongside Live, Music, and Movies & TV, has been reported across iPhone and Android YouTube apps by 9to5Google, AndroidPure, SammyGuru, and iThinkDiff.

Custom Feeds carries narrower, explicitly stated conditions: a signed-in US account, age 13 or older, English language, mobile or desktop access, and search history turned on. None of the current reporting attaches those same conditions to the navigation redesign itself, though YouTube hasn't confirmed the redesign's full rollout scope either, so treat its reach as unsettled rather than global.

What to do right now

Open the YouTube app to check which layout is showing. If Subs is already sitting in Home's top bar, it's one tap away, right after Home.

If Subscriptions is still in the bottom bar, YouTube hasn't published a rollout schedule, so the available evidence doesn't indicate that updating the app or changing a setting will force the redesign to appear. It's simply a matter of where the staged rollout currently stands for that account.

Anyone wanting to try Custom Feeds should confirm they're signed into a US account, are 13 or older, have the app or browser language set to English, and have search history turned on before assuming the "+" button is missing or broken.