TikTok is testing LANDSCAPE videos to ‘enter YouTube territory’
To lure more users away from YouTube, TikTok is testing landscape videos with some users.
The Chinese social network told TechCrunch that users who have access to the trial feature will see a new “full screen” button in their feed.
As soon as they tap the button, the video switches to landscape mode, just like videos on YouTube.
It’s the next chapter in the battle between Google’s YouTube and TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance.
TikTok users who have access to the trial feature will see a new “full screen” button in their feed (file photo).
One Twitter user said, “Hope this sticks… it might actually make me want to use TikTok someday.”
Another wrote: “They come for YouTube.”
It’s unclear which TikTok users will be able to test the feature. MailOnline has contacted TikTok for more information.
According to TechCrunch, TikTok could decide not to roll out the feature after testing is complete.
Alternatively, in the future, TikTok could automatically shift videos from portrait to landscape when users tilt their phone without having to press a button.
Traditionally, TikTok has hosted short videos (a few minutes long) in portrait mode, while YouTube has hosted longer videos, many over 10 minutes long, in landscape mode.
YouTube was once the dominant force in video, but TikTok has surged in popularity over the past five years, and the two now compete by emulating each other’s features.
Earlier this year, TikTok ditched its three-minute video limit, allowing users to upload clips up to 10 minutes long.
This gave content creators a bit more flexibility when filming clips like beauty tutorials, cooking demos, and comedic skits.
It was also seen as a way to target existing users on YouTube, allowing videos up to 15 minutes in length – or even longer for verified users.
Videos on TikTok have traditionally been aligned horizontally, but the move to horizontal will mimic a trend pioneered by YouTube
According to Beijing-based owner of TikTok Bytedance, the social media app has 1 billion monthly active users
Meanwhile, YouTube developed Shorts, its short-form video sharing option that lets users presents clips in portrait format and limits them to 60 seconds in length.
GenerallyLonger-form content is considered easier to monetize and keeps users on the platform longer.
Paul Triolo, a technology expert at consultancy Albright Stonebridge Group, told the BBC: “TikTok has been moving on YouTube for a while.
“The goal here seems to be to appeal to a more mature audience, using YouTube for informational and educational videos where a full-screen mode would be more desirable.”
Like TikTok, YouTube Shorts allows users to post short videos of up to 60 seconds from their smartphones
Even with a younger demographic that finds the short-form format appealing, TikTok consistently outperforms YouTube — possibly a symptom of limited attention spans.
In June 2020, TikTok began to outperform YouTube in terms of average usage minutes per day between the ages of four and 18.
The Chinese platform allows users as young as 13 to create an account by asking for a date of birth, although it doesn’t prevent children under that age from using it.
If you liked this article…
Facebook could not detect death threats against US election workers
Software that pretends to reveal TikTok nudes actually installs malware
Twitter Blue is relaunched, but iPhone users have to pay more
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11545445/TikTok-testing-LANDSCAPE-videos-bid-YouTubes-territory.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490 TikTok is testing LANDSCAPE videos to ‘enter YouTube territory’