YouTube enhances Shorts experience with templates and customization options

On October 8, 2024, YouTube announced several updates to its Shorts platform, aimed at improving the creation process and user experience. These changes come as part of YouTube's ongoing efforts to enhance its short-form video offering and compete in the rapidly evolving social media landscape.

One of the most significant additions is the introduction of Shorts templates. This feature allows creators to recreate or repurpose existing videos, going beyond the previous capability of remixing single elements like songs, videos, or effects. With templates, users can now replicate or build upon attributes from any existing video they've watched, including inherited elements such as audio, segment timing, and text.

According to YouTube, the goal of this feature is to spark inspiration, support trends, and encourage community participation. Any user can create a template by making or uploading a video, and anyone can modify them. This feature is expected to be available to all creators in the coming weeks, providing a new tool for content creation and engagement.

Responding to user feedback, YouTube is introducing an option to temporarily show fewer Shorts in the home feed. Users can access this feature by clicking on the three-dot menu to the right of any Shorts grid in their home feed. This update aims to allow users to customize their YouTube experience based on their preferences.

YouTube anticipates that viewers who use this option are likely those who don't frequently watch Shorts, and therefore, the company does not expect a significant impact on creators' viewership. This move demonstrates YouTube's commitment to balancing user preferences with creator interests.

In a nod to user preferences, YouTube has announced that Studio mobile now supports rotation in landscape view on both Android and iOS platforms. This update caters to users who prefer to use their screens horizontally, offering a more versatile experience for content creators managing their channels on mobile devices.

Building on last year's launch of Shorts music previews, which allowed labels and artists to deliver official snippets of upcoming music releases, YouTube is adding a new "Notify Me" option. This feature enables creators to opt-in to receive notifications when the full-length release of a previewed song becomes available on YouTube. This addition aims to strengthen the connection between short-form content and full-length music releases on the platform.

YouTube also clarified a common issue reported by users regarding the ability to edit Shorts thumbnails on mobile devices. The company emphasized that this feature is accessible through the main YouTube app, not the Studio app, addressing confusion among some creators.

These updates reflect YouTube's ongoing efforts to enhance its Shorts platform, which has become an increasingly important part of the company's strategy since its launch. By introducing new creation tools, customization options, and user-friendly features, YouTube aims to maintain its competitive edge in the short-form video market.

Key Facts

• Announcement date: October 8, 2024
• Shorts templates allow users to recreate or repurpose existing videos
• New option to show fewer Shorts in the home feed
• Studio mobile now supports landscape mode on Android and iOS
• "Notify Me" feature added for Shorts music previews
• Clarification provided on editing Shorts thumbnails on mobile