The video platform has just launched a custom TV experience for vertical video, so users can now watch Shorts with others on their big screens. SEE ALSO: All YouTube creators get @username handle “Today, we’re expanding viewing access to Shorts to our fastest growing surface: the TV screen,” YouTube Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan said in a statement on Monday. “While this may seem like a natural next step, an incredible amount of thought and care has gone into bringing this vertical, mobile-first experience to the big screen.” In its announcement, YouTube shared the process it went through to create the Shorts experience for TVs. He had considered a number of different layout options before landing on what users now see in the published version. The TV experience for YouTube Shorts puts a border around the vertical video being played, so it doesn’t look awkward taking up such a small portion of the screen. This extra space around it is filled with information about the video, such as the title and YouTube creator. Viewers can also subscribe to the creator’s channel and like or dislike the video right from the same screen. When the video ends, the next YouTube Short will slide up just like it does on your mobile device. YouTube told Mashable that it hopes the TV experience will bring shared viewing to YouTube Shorts. Watching video on your mobile device is usually a personal experience, while watching video on your TV is an activity you can share with friends and family. According to YouTube, Shorts content is viewed by over 1.5 billion connected users each month. This puts the platform on par with the user base of its biggest competition Tik Tokwho had a custom tv app in the US for about a year. SEE ALSO: YouTube Shorts Says It Has 1.5 Billion Monthly Users. These are TikTok-like numbers. YouTubers can access Shorts via a dedicated shelf on the home page of the YouTube app. Users can also go directly to a creator’s channel and watch Shorts on TV from there as well.
