Photo Credit: YouTube
YouTube has announced an update for YouTube Shorts that increases the length to up to three minutes long. Suddenly, YouTube Shorts aren’t so short anymore.
Starting on October 15, creators can upload Shorts that are up to three minutes long. YouTube says this was a top requested feature from creators, making it a focus for release. The change applies to videos that are square or taller in aspect ratio, and won’t affect any videos uploaded before the October 15 date.
The move follows a similar one from TikTok, which made three-minute (now even longer) videos possible on the platform in 2023. YouTube Shorts is hoping to rival TikTok in the short-form arena as the future of TikTok in the United States remains uncertain due to a law that would ban the platform if ByteDance does not divest.
Other features that are coming to Shorts include the ability to tap into YouTube content from the Shorts camera, making it easier to remix clips from videos, music videos, and more. YouTube is also bringing its DeepMind model for generating video, Veo, to the platform later this year.
A new Shorts trending page is coming for mobile for users to discover what’s hot in their country, potentially inspiring them to jump on the trend. YouTube is also updating the comments on mobile so that users can get a preview of what people are saying in the comments right from the Shorts feed before heading to the comments section.
YouTube is also making it easier to hide Shorts, if you’re annoyed that they’re appearing too often in your feed. (Let’s face it; the format isn’t great to watch on a wide screen device like a laptop or TV.) A new option to “Show Fewer Shorts” will appear in the settings menu. YouTube says this feature will ‘temporarily’ show fewer Shorts in your Home feed.
