YouTube is expanding the availability of its YouTube Shorts service by 26 countries to 100 in total, after a limited release in India late in 2020 and a US beta at the start of 2021. Although short videos could be viewed on the platform before, users will be able to access for the first time Shorts creative tools, which include a multi-segment camera for combining multiple video clips and the ability to record with music or to choose speed settings.
The new features also include the ability to use audio content not only from other short videos, but also from YouTube videos. The creators will have control and will be able to give up if they do not want their long videos to be remixed.
YouTube introduced the Shorts format in September 2020. However, only those in about two dozen countries could access the tools YouTube created for filming and editing Shorts. With the announcement, the company is making those tools widely available, meaning end-users are likely to see more and more of the clips appear on the platform.
YouTube’s embrace of short-form videos comes just as TikTok itself becomes a bit more like YouTube. At the start of July, the company, following months of testing, gave all of its users the ability to record clips up to three minutes long.
