YouTube introduces longer Shorts and several other creator-driven changes

YouTube said its letting people upload longer Shorts as it was a top requested feature by creators

• 🤔 YouTube is changing how Shorts work

• ⏰ Creators can now upload Shorts that last up to 3 minutes instead of 60 seconds

• 📹 It’ll also be easier to remix others’ content soon

• 🤷‍♂️ Thankfully, an option is coming to show fewer Shorts for those who don’t care

YouTube will have to come up with a new name for its Shorts, which were previously only 60 seconds long. In an update starting October 15, users can upload Shorts that last up to three minutes, which seems counterintuitive. However, longer Shorts was one of the top requested features by creators, so here we are.

According to a blog post on YouTube’s website, the change will apply to videos that are square or taller in aspect ratio and won’t affect any videos uploaded before October 15.

YouTube also announced that it’ll make recreating viral Shorts easier with templates that make it easier to “Remix” others’ content. Creating content straight from the Shorts camera will also be simpler, allowing you to pull clips from across YouTube, favorite videos and clips you see, and more.

Unsurprisingly, Google is pushing more AI features onto creators. Google DeepMind’s video generation tool, Veo, is coming to YouTube Shorts. You can make video backgrounds and standalone video clips using the AI tool.

Diving straight into the comments section is what most of us do whenever we see a viral video, but YouTube will soon provide a preview of what people are saying right in the Shorts feed, giving you a sneak peek of everyone’s reactions.

Lastly, YouTube will also allow users to customize their feeds. One feature that people might be pleased to see is the option to “Show fewer Shorts”. If you prefer long-form content on YouTube and would rather get your dopamine hits from Instagram and TikTok, you’ll want to enable this. Simply click on the three dot menu in the upper right of any Shorts grid in your Home feed and YouTube will temporarily show you fewer Shorts.

• Up next: YouTube will now show ads whenever you pause a video

Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.