Photo Credit: TikTok
TikTok is overhauling its desktop functionality with several new features designed to take on YouTube for platform dominance.
The short-form video pioneer announced on Thursday (February 27) that its web-based experience now contains a modular layout, a better For You feed, a new Explore tab, an immersive full-screen option for live streams, and a floating video player. TikTok’s new web features are designed to allow for more immersive (and distraction-free) viewing, more akin to YouTube’s functionality on the web.
Game streamers can also “go live” in either portrait or landscape mode — users on desktop will see a horizontal view by default, while mobile users will be able to rotate their phones to view content in horizontal mode. This change alone is integral in TikTok’s efforts to come for both Twitch and YouTube’s crown in the game streaming space.
TikTok has also introduced a new Collections feature that lets users organize their favorite videos into categories, similar to YouTube’s playlists feature. The in-app Explore page is also now on desktop, allowing a curated view of content based on a user’s interests.
“Our users interact with TikTok in many different ways, which is why we’re excited to introduce these web app updates,” says Cody Puckett, Product Manager at TikTok. “By enhancing our desktop capabilities, we aim to bring TikTok’s handheld magic on desktop, providing an engaging experience with greater flexibility so you can enjoy TikTok anytime, anywhere. As TikTok evolves, we remain committed to innovating for our community and ensuring the platform is accessible for all.”
TikTok has always been a mobile-first platform, but it makes sense that the company wants to make desktop viewing more accessible for its users. The platform’s biggest competition remains YouTube, which boasts over 2.5 billion active users, dwarfing TikTok performance in the overall video viewing space.
In the last few years, TikTok has made numerous changes to compete with its biggest rivals, such as increasing the time limit for videos. Initially, users could only post videos between 15 seconds and a minute in length. That has since been increased to 10-minute videos. The platform has even been testing 60-minute uploads, but it remains to be seen if this change will make it to the live product.
Content shared from www.digitalmusicnews.com.