Someone watching YouTube Shorts on phone
YouTube has taken on TikTok yet again after announcing that Shorts can now be up to three minutes long.
TikTok launched three-minute videos back in July 2021, and fans, as well as creators on the app, were quick to start using the new feature.
Now, YouTube has decided to take on the Bytedance-owned app’s features yet again by extending the length of Shorts videos to three minutes.
This change was announced on October 3, 2024, in a blog post from the Google-owned company.
“Longer Shorts, more of you. Starting on October 15, you can upload Shorts up to 3 minutes long. This was a top requested feature by creators, so we’re excited to give you more flexibility to tell your story,” it reads.
“This change applies to videos that are square or taller in aspect ratio and won’t affect any videos you uploaded before October 15. And we’ll be working to improve recommendations for longer Shorts in the coming months.”
Viewers and YouTube creators alike quickly flooded social media with their thoughts about the upgraded length, and it’s safe to say that many of them are excited.
“Very exciting! YouTube Shorts is moving from the restrictive 60 seconds max to 180 seconds! Most of my content fits in between 1 – 3 minutes, so this is perfect!” said tech TikToker DaPoets.
Another said: “Nice! My shorts always go a little over a minute. Hard to cut down to 59 sec.”
A third user pointed out that to monetize a video on TikTok, it has to be over a minute long. This meant that when they cross-posted the clip to YouTube Shorts, they had to cut some off. Now, they won’t need to do this anymore.
This comes just weeks after YouTube announced its last round of improvements to the site. The Google-owned company revealed gifts for vertical live streams back in September as a new way to support your favorite creators.