YouTube Shorts is a TikTok alternative launching first in India; how to use and everything to know

After Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts is set to tap into the Indian market space which was largely dominated by TikTok before it was banned. After the TikTok ban in the country, Reels came into light. YouTube Shorts too works similarly where users can make and share short videos of 15 seconds. This feature has been launched by Google in India and can be seen in the early beta. While the company has not taken it to the United States as of now, it is likely that the US could be the next market there.

Google announced that the new YouTube feature possesses a new camera along with some editing tools and the feature will be available for users in a short period of time. It is to note that the 15-second long videos can be seen on the YouTube homepage. The section where they will appear is called the Shorts shelf. “We’ll continue to add more features over the coming months and we look forward to hearing your feedback about these features,” Google said in a statement.

Google explained that all those who have Shorts camera will be able to create the short vertical videos on the YouTube app only. In order to check if users have this option or not, the company said to look for the “+” icon (or the video camera icon on iOS). From here, the video option has to be selected. If users can see the option of ‘Create a short video’ then this means that they have access to the Shorts camera that will enable them to use editing tools for short videos. It is to note that for Android users in India, the Create button has been moved to the bottom bar of navigation.

Users who do not have the access to the Shorts camera will still be able to upload vertical videos that are under 60 seconds long. The videos will go with the hashtag #shorts in the title or description. With the help of these hashtags, these videos can be picked up to be highlighted on the YouTube homepage, the company said.

According to Chris Jaffe, VP of Product Management for YouTube, Shorts will expand to iOS as well. He said it will also be introduced to other countries soon, while the company works on the other features.