YouTube Shorts is getting new TikTok-like features
Six new features are coming to YouTube Shorts that should make creators happy
🆕 YouTube isn’t giving up on Shorts as it rolls out new features
🎬 Users will soon have six new tools to create content
🆚 Some of the features are already available on TikTok
📆 YouTube launched Shorts in September 2020
YouTube isn’t giving up on its mission to topple TikTok, or at least provide an appealing alternative. Six new features are coming to YouTube Shorts that will please creators and keep TikTok on its toes.
First up is the ability to change longer videos into Shorts. You can use Auto layout on Android to automatically track the main subject in a video, like focusing on a player during a basketball game. Auto layout will automatically and dynamically pan, zoom and crop at the press of a button, according to YouTube’s blog post.
One feature that you’ll have seen countless times on TikTok is text narration. With Text-to-speech, creators will be able to have text on a Short narrated or spoken out loud. Text to Speech is joined by another feature that lets you add and edit stylized captions directly on your content, which should make your Shorts more engaging, and accessible and can be customized with different fonts and colors.
Another new YouTube Shorts feature is the “Add yours” sticker, which lets your audience share their related content, potentially sparking a chain reaction of similar content. The “Add yours” stickers will be rolled out gradually over the next few weeks.
Along with the above, users will soon have the ability to “remix a remix”, letting you put your spin on content that has already been remixed. And last up, Minecraft effects are coming to Shorts to celebrate the game’s 15th anniversary.
YouTube launched Shorts in September 2020 as an answer to the ever-popular TikTok. It followed Instagram launching its take on ByteDance’s app with Instagram Reels in August 2020.
Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.