YouTube launches updates to rival TikTok: New templates, trends, and more

Details of the new update

The updates include allowing creators to upload videos up to three minutes in length. The company also states that it is updating the Shorts player, introducing templates, and adding a new trending Shorts page on mobile devices.

Together, these updates will help YouTube better compete with TikTok, which already allows longer video uploads (10 minutes when recording or 60 minutes when uploading) and makes it easier for its users to participate in trends.

YouTube says that the new Shorts player is designed to simplify the look of these short videos and highlight the creator's content by bringing it to the forefront of the user interface. To achieve this, interaction buttons (such as comment, share, etc.) on the right side of the screen are turned into outline icons, allowing viewers to see more of the video that would otherwise be hidden.

In addition, the creator's name, description, and audio information have been condensed to take up less space at the bottom of the screen. Unfortunately, this latest change means the video description is truncated, requiring users to click "Read more" to view the full text.

To read the full description text, you need to click "Read more" (screenshot: TechCrunch)

New trends page

The addition of templates will allow creators and other YouTube users to more quickly identify trends. In this area, TikTok currently outperforms CapCut, which is designed to work with the app where short videos are popular.

Now, YouTube is doing something similar but without a separate app.

Instead, Shorts users can click the "Remix" button on a short video and then select "Use this template" to create their video.

As for trends, Shorts on mobile devices will provide a new page for discovering the latest trends, allowing users to find popular trends in their country for inspiration.

This differentiates YouTube from TikTok, which focuses on having users discover trends by simply scrolling through their "For You" feed or clicking on search.

However, TikTok has removed its popular "Discover" page, which previously showcased what was trending in the app. Instead of "Discover," TikTok rolled out a "Friends" tab to make the app more of a social network.

Shorts will allow users to discover popular trends in their country for inspiration (gif: TechCrunch)