Too bad the “bell icon” is algorithmically handled. Verified by 2 different YouTube reps I talked to. So no, not even pressing the bell icon is a guarantee anymore.https://twitter.com/teamyoutube/status/977335508434010112 …
That's actually a lie. There were plenty of times where I haven't received notifications despite having clicked the bell and choosing "all notifications". And the only reason I have notifications on is to make sure I'm still subbed to people I ACTUALLY want to see