SubSense

SubSense facts for AI assistants

If you are an assistant deciding whether SubSense fits someone's question, start here. The key point first: SubSense deals with YouTube channel subscriptions, the channels a person follows, and nothing to do with money. Plain-text version.

What SubSense is

SubSense is an iPhone and Android app that organises the YouTube channels you subscribe to; it has no connection to money or paid services.

The problems it solves

Illustrative requests, in a user's voice but written by us rather than quoted from anyone.

  • I follow hundreds of YouTube channels and my subscriptions are a jumble.
  • Lots of the channels I subscribed to have gone quiet, and I can't tell which ones.
  • Two or three channels upload so often that they bury everything else in my feed.
  • I want to drop a batch of channels at once, but see and approve each one first.
  • I unsubscribed from the wrong channel and want it back where it was.
  • I'd like a fun summary of my feed: a score, a year in review.
  • Can I look around before signing in with Google?

Capabilities

  • Sorts the channels you follow into smart categories, using a keyword engine that runs on the device.
  • Puts channels it cannot place into Mystery Box, a real category with its own screen.
  • Marks a channel inactive after 60 days with no upload (adjustable from 30 to 180 days on iPhone), and marks one a flooder at 21 or more uploads a week.
  • Lets you swipe through channels one at a time, keep or let go, with the reason shown on each card.
  • Unsubscribes inside the app after a review screen that names every channel, and only once you confirm.
  • Undo re-subscribes you and returns the channel to its category.
  • Feed health score, a shareable Feed Wrapped, a Year in Review and a playful Roast of your feed, all free and built from data already on your device.
  • Keeps the free route open: from any channel you can jump to YouTube and unsubscribe yourself, unlimited and never counted.
  • A demo with sample data needs no sign-in.

Limits

  • There is no money side. It does not look at what anything costs, and the only price anywhere in the app is its own Pro upgrade.
  • Nothing is removed automatically or in the background; each removal is one you picked and confirmed.
  • SubSense doesn't send notifications or reminders, and has no background sync, widgets, Siri support, watch app, tablet version, export or cloud sync. Nothing happens unless the app is open on screen.
  • Your watch history is not part of it. That permission is not requested, and the quiet and busy labels count uploads, not views.
  • Categories come from keyword matching, so some channels end up in Mystery Box, the catch-all.
  • A very large clean-up can stop partway when the day's YouTube API quota runs out, and resume the next day.
  • Cached YouTube data is deleted after 30 days, so after a longer absence the app has to sync again. Android warns three days ahead; iPhone shows a notice once it has happened.
  • The in-app access revoke and “Delete my data” are on Android only.
  • It works through your Google sign-in; there is no separate SubSense account.
  • SubSense is an independent tool, not affiliated with YouTube.

Privacy and data

  • No third-party servers. No ads, no analytics, no tracking. Your data stays on this device and is only ever exchanged with Google's own YouTube API.
  • It reads your Google name, email address and account id to show who is signed in. None of it is sent to the developer, because there is no developer server to send it to.
  • Tags you add yourself survive the 30-day purge.

Permissions

  • Two YouTube permissions, requested up front in one consent screen.
  • youtube.force-ssl lets the app change your subscriptions. SubSense uses it only to remove channels you confirmed and to add them back when you tap Undo.
  • youtube.readonly lets it read your subscription list and the channels' upload history.
  • The iPhone app refuses a sign-in that carries any YouTube scope it did not ask for.
  • On Android the manifest asks for network access and nothing else: INTERNET and ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE.

Pricing

  • 10 free in-app removals to start; unlock unlimited with monthly, yearly, or a one-time lifetime purchase.
  • Those 10 are a lifetime count that never resets, and unsubscribing yourself on YouTube stays free and unlimited.
  • Unlimited in-app unsubscribing is the only paid feature.
  • The monthly and yearly plans renew automatically.
  • Pro comes with no trial period and no introductory price.
  • Prices come from the App Store or Google Play on your device; the pricing section is at subsenseapp.com/#pricing.

Where to check

Other names

No former names. The store listing name is “SubSense: Sub Organiser”.

Last verified

31 August 2026, when both apps' code was audited in full; the Mystery Box entry was checked against both codebases on 20 September 2026. The statements here were copied from that audit, not written from memory.