YouTube Shorts mimics TikTok with longer videos and more

YouTube is stepping up its fight against TikTok, rolling out a series of updates to its short-video platform YouTube Shorts.

As TikTok continues to dominate the short-video space with its massive global reach and creative tools, YouTube is rolling out new features designed to bridge the gap and give creators more flexibility and opportunities to engage with trends.

One of the biggest changes this month is increasing the video length for Shorts. Starting October 15, creators will be able to upload videos up to three minutes long. While TikTok allows videos up to 10 minutes in length, YouTube's new limit balances things out, giving creators enough room for more detailed content without becoming too lengthy for a short audience.

But YouTube isn't just focusing on video length, it's also updating the way viewers experience shorts. A redesigned player optimizes the way users interact with videos and puts the creator's content front and center.

The new layout reduces the space taken up by interaction buttons like comments and shares and compresses the creator information at the bottom, freeing up more screen space for the video itself.

YouTube also makes it easier for creators to jump on viral trends. A new template feature allows users to quickly remix and reuse popular content directly on the Shorts platform. Similar to TikTok's CapCut integration, creators can tap “Remix” on any Short and apply its template to their video.

Another important addition is a dedicated “Trending” page for Shorts, which helps users stay up to date with popular content in their own country. This is a localized approach that contrasts with TikTok's more global trend detection via its For You feed.

YouTube is testing AI-generated backgrounds for short films

The Dream Screen feature is currently only available to a limited number of creators.

To increase social engagement, YouTube will soon allow users to preview comments directly in the Shorts feed without having to fully open the comments section, potentially driving more engagement.

Finally, for viewers who want to customize their experience, YouTube is offering a new Show Less Shorts option, which gives them temporary control over how much short-form content they see in their feed.

Separately, YouTube is also testing AI-powered tools with Google DeepMind's Veo, which allows creators to generate video backgrounds or create AI-powered clips. These features would be labeled “AI generated” to ensure transparency.

With these updates, YouTube aims to challenge TikTok's dominance in the world of short videos. YouTube Shorts recently surpassed 50 billion daily views and is looking to capture a larger share of the rapidly growing short video landscape.