YouTube has generated a ‘Breaking News’ section across all its platforms.

YouTube wants you to stay informed

The news feed encompasses videos pertaining to world events and breaking stories, first noticed by Android Police when YouTube started posting videos covering the Barcelona terrorist attack.

But not everyone saw the same articles, as other users’ saw their Breaking News section populated with news of the departure of Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon.

At the moment, it appears Breaking News videos are region-specific which could become uniform further down the line.

The layout

Videos appear via a horizontal carousel, similar to other sections found on YouTube’s homepage, and will included standard buttons such as ‘Recently Uploaded’, ‘Recommended’, and ‘Watch Again’.

Users will be able to opt out of Breaking News notifications by pressing ‘Not Interested’ on desktop or tapping the ‘X’ on mobile devices.

YouTube has not yet decided if ‘Breaking News’ will be a daily occurrence or to only be generated when news worthy events occur.

User response may dictate the frequency of future notifications but adding a bit of information to break up those cat videos may not be a bad thing. 

Would you be happy or annoyed by Breaking News notifications? Does the feature feel organic to the YouTube layout? Give us your thoughts in the comments below.