Horizontal Video Applications : horizontal full screen mode

TikTok has started testing a new horizontal full-screen mode. Select users are starting to see a new full-screen button on regular square and rectangular videos. The button, much like a similar one on YouTube, shifts the TikTok video into a landscape full-screen video with a hidden UI.

TikTok confirmed the limited test to TechCrunch, showing that the platform is, in fact, testing long-form content and higher-effort content. What’s largely set TikTok and YouTube apart is TikTok’s focus on portrait video, with creators having to create separate videos for both TikTok and YouTube to utilize the different platform’s strengths.

This full-screen mode means creators can now create a single video that’s optimized for both YouTube and TikTok, we may well see more longer-form videos on TikTok that you’d typically only find on YouTube. TikTok expanded its maximum video length to 10 minutes earlier this year, after testing ever-longer uploads for years. This shift could also bring a number of creators to begin working on both platforms simultaneously, helping with monetization and profitability for smaller creators.

While TikTok is increasingly offering more than just short videos, competitors like Instagram and YouTube have both launched short-form videos in the form of Reels and Shorts, respectively. Snapchat even offers Spotlight, a tab in the Snapchat app that offers up short-form video content.

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