YouTube Shorts launched in India, hopes to fill spot vacated by TikTok ban

YouTube has rolled out its short video platform called YouTube Shorts to fill the void created by the TikTok ban in India.

HIGHLIGHTS

• YouTube has launched YouTube Shorts for Indian users.
• YouTube’s Shorts will let users create a 15-second or less short video and upload it on the platform.
• YouTube Shorts will initially be available for Android users.

After Instagram’s Reels, YouTube has rolled out its short video platform called YouTube Shorts to fill the void created by the TikTok ban in India. Ever since TikTok was banned in India, several tech companies came up with their own short video platforms. YouTube too was long-speculated to be developing a similar platform and now the company has finally made it official. The video creation tool would be first available for Indian users.

Similar to TikTok, YouTube’s Shorts will let users create a 15-second or less short video and upload it on the platform. Users can also shoot different videos and stitch them together using the set of creator tools provided. Apart from this, users can also monitor the speed of their video and add music to their videos using YouTube’s song library.

“We’re excited to announce that we are building YouTube Shorts, a new short-form video experience right on YouTube for creators and artists who want to shoot short, catchy videos using nothing but their mobile phones. Over the next few days in India, we’re launching an early beta of Shorts with a handful of new creation tools to test out. This is an early version of the product, but we're releasing it now to bring you — our global community of users, creators and artists — on our journey with us as we build and improve Shorts. We’ll continue to add more features and expand to more countries in the coming months as we learn from you and listen to your feedback,” YouTube said in an official blog.

The YouTube Shorts comes with a couple of TikTok-like features including the speed, timer and countdown, and a multi-segment camera. So the multi-segment camera lets users string multiple video clips together, users also get to add music to their videos from a large library of songs that Youtube promises will continue to grow with time. The timer and countdown function will let users shoot a video without having to press the button constantly and within a set time frame.

YouTube also said in the blog that it will come up with more new features in the coming weeks. “There’s much more to come, and over the next few weeks and months, we’ll continue to roll out more creation tools and easier ways to watch short videos on YouTube as we listen to your feedback,” the blog read.

It is important to note that YouTube Shorts would not be a standalone app but it will be highlighted within the YouTube app on Android. The feature will be gradually rolled out for iOS users.