Video streaming service YouTube has announced a series of updates to the “Shorts” feature, the platform’s answer to TikTok, for both viewers and video creators. In case you didn’t know, these are short videos in portrait format, as opposed to the longer landscape videos that the platform made its name on.
The big change is the maximum length of the shorts. Until now, the limit was only one minute, but it will be extended to three minutes. This will likely be a welcome change for creators, even though TikTok lets you create videos up to 10 minutes long.
Elsewhere, YouTube simplifies the design of the Shorts player, making it easier to focus on the content. This is important because you are likely to stay on the page much longer.
YouTube’s mobile app will also have a new Trending Shorts tab to help you stay up to date with the latest happenings.
The video platform is also launching new features for those who are not fans of Shorts. If you prefer regular, longer YouTube videos, you can choose to enable the “Show fewer shorts” setting and receive fewer short film recommendations in the app.
As mentioned in the official YouTube blog, these changes will be added on October 15so you don’t have long to wait.
This article was originally published on our sister publication M3 and was translated and adapted from Swedish.
