YouTube Shorts, now available on your TV

Google sees the popularity of YouTube Shorts growing exponentially (more than 1.5 billion views every month) and knows that it can gain a tremendous competitive advantage against TikTok by taking advantage of the existence of a YouTube app for the device that exists in every living room: the TV.

The company announced that it is starting the global launch of YouTube Shorts for TVs, as long as users own a Smart TV model released after 2019 or a last-gen game console (eg PS5, Xbox Series X/S) or some modern streaming device.

Targeted work has been done on the user and viewing environment of YouTube Shorts for TVs, so that the user can enjoy an experience similar to the one he is used to on his smartphone. For this reason, the YouTube Shorts are placed centrally on the screen with a border around them, while on the sides the background is colored and blurred. Also on the bottom right is creator info and thumbs up/down buttons, along with the more options menu (the three dots).

Managing YouTube Shorts is very easy with the buttons on the TV remote control, as play and pause work normally, while the transition to the previous or next Short is done by the up and down buttons.