
YouTube is primarily known for its long-form content that can minutes in length or even hours. But since TikTok has risen in fame, YouTube needs to improvise.
And improvising for YouTube is actually making things short, with what it calls 'YouTube Shorts', which directly aims to be the competitor of TikTok, and also Instagram Reels. And the war continues, because business is business, and continuous change is a must.
This time, YouTube in a blog post announced that it is introducing half a dozen new features for Shorts, to enhance creators' creative options, in order to help them customize and expand their Shorts usage.
The features are part of the overall trend of video platforms bending toward one another, like indoor plants jockeying for the same sunbeam.
YouTube is known for adding new features. But for Shorts, the platform is known for routinely picking up some TikTok features it sees fit.
First of, is the 'Auto layout' to help users transform longer videos to Shorts.

Back in 2023, YouTube launched tools for Shorts to help creators turn their regular videos into Shorts.
This time, YouTube said that users should be able to use Auto layout on Android, which automatically tracks the main subject in videos as creators are turning it into Shorts.
What this means, "when you’re remixing long form videos into Shorts, the Auto layout tool will automatically and dynamically pan, zoom, & crop to make sure your Shorts look great," explained YouTube.

The next feature, is the ability to narrate the text.
"With Text to Speech, creators will have even more ways to express themselves by having text on your Short narrated or spoken out loud," said YouTube.
To use this feature, after recording a Short, creators can add their text and tap the 'Add voice' icon in the top left where they can find four voices to choose from.

Then, there is the 'Add yours' sticker feature.
With it, creators can add their own sticker to their Shorts, "to inspire your audience with their own related content, sparking a chain reaction of adorable content!" explained YouTube.
This feature has a gradual roll out.

The next update, is a feature to help users celebrate Minecraft's 15th anniversary.
Here, YouTube has added two new effects in Shorts: Minecraft Spring, which transports users right into the world of Minecraft, and Minecraft Rush, which is a mini game users can play right in the Shorts player.

Next, is the ability to add auto-generated captions directly on creators own content.
This ability should help make Shorts more fun, engaging, accessible, and helpful for people watching on mute.
Here, creators can edit, customize, and style their captions with different fonts and colors.

Lastly, is a feature to remix a remix.
"We’ve rolled out a handful of remixing tools already, and we most recently launched the option to remix a remix! Whether you’re participating in a dance trend or keeping a musical chain going, remixing a remix lets you join in on the fun with other creators while putting your own spin on remixed content," explained YouTube.
These 6 features were announced during YouTube's third Release Notes installment.
At the time, Rene Ritchie, YouTube Creator Liaison sat down with YouTube’s Chief Product Officer Johanna Voolich to talk about the broader opportunity for Shorts.