YouTube Shorts, Google's answer to TikTok, is now available in over 100 countries around the world. The short format video platform was launched in September last year. Although initially limited to India, Shorts expanded to 26 countries earlier this year, including the US, Canada, Latin America and the UK.
Along with global expansion, YouTube is also introducing a number of new features that will be available in both existing and new markets. These include the ability to record up to 60 seconds with the Shorts camera, add text to specific points in the video, add clips from the smartphone gallery and add basic filters to recordings made with the Shorts camera.
In addition, to offer a “perfect viewing” experience across its platform, YouTube is working on new ways to improve the connection between users, making more easy discovery of new content and creators.
So while YouTube Shorts appears to be aiming to become the world's leading short-form video platform, TikTok is looking to be YouTube's first competitor. In fact, earlier this month, the Chinese app started rolling out the option to create videos up to three minutes long, giving you the ability to bring completely different content.
