Youtube Shorts Are Now Longer, With Length Increased to 3 Minutes

Starting October 15 (2024), creators are able to upload YouTube Shorts that are up to 3 minutes long. As explained in the platform’s official announcement, longer Shorts video is a feature that has been straight-on demanded by the platform users. The change will apply to all square or vertically formatted videos, and won’t affect any videos that were published to YouTube before October 15.

Many have noted that YouTube has clearly been inspired by TikTok, which introduced 3-minute-long videos back in 2023, only to extend their length to up to 60 minutes this year. It’s therefore clear that YouTube hopes to continue to rival TikTok in the short-form video space, especially now that the future of TikTok in the USA remains unknown due to a potential ban.

In addition to longer Shorts, YouTube has unveiled that several new features are coming to its Shorts. For one, users will soon be able to tap into YouTube content directly from the Shorts camera, making it easier to remix clips using videos, music, and more. Later this year, the video platform will also roll out its DeepMind-powered video-generation tool, Veo, and launch a new Shorts trending page for mobile, showcasing popular content by country.

On top of that, YouTube is refining the comments in the mobile app, allowing users to preview people's comments right from the Shorts feed before heading to the comments section. Last but not least, the platform will debut a new feature, ‘Show Fewer Shorts,’ which will enable users to temporarily reduce the amount of Shorts in their Home feed, catering to those overwhelmed by short-form video content.