YouTube Shorts adds more TikTok-like features including hearts

YouTube is adding more Instagram and TikTok-like features to Shorts, because apps are just collapsing into each other these days.

The Google-owned platform announced the additions in a blog post Thursday, which include a "clear screen" feature, speed settings, the removal of the dislike button, and the ability to like posts with a heart.

"Recent experiments showed that simplifying these options made it easier for users to give more specific feedback on videos and led to a more intuitive and better experience overall," the blog post reads.

Here's what YouTube Shorts is adding to your videos:

Clear screen

A new tool will you hide all text and buttons onscreen while watching a Short. It's similar to TikTok's "clear mode" launched in 2022.

Heart icon for likes

Replacing the thumbs up icon and making Shorts look more like TikTok or Instagram Reels, Shorts now have a heart icon to like videos. There is no longer an option to dislike with a thumbs down, but the options in the three-dot menu to tap "Report," "Not Interested," and "Don't recommend this channel," remain.

"We’re making this change because we’ve heard that it wasn’t always clear which option to choose when content just wasn’t right for you or when you thought it may not meet our Community Guidelines," reads YouTube's blog post.

Speed settings

You can now watch Shorts at 2x speed, which YouTube has long had on regular videos in a variety of speeds. To play a Short at speed, users just need to press the edge of the screen with their finger; lifting the finger will stop the fast-forward. To lock the speed at 2x, swipe down while pressing on the play button.

Mute button

While you could always turn the volume down on Shorts, there's now a mute button that appears when you pause a Short, for more instant cut-offs.

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