They allow seeking on longer shorts (not sure what the threshold is, maybe 20 seconds?), but it's stupid that they don't just enable it on everything (and apparently it's straight-up impossible to seek shorts on desktop, very cool). Also I hate that there isn't a way to hide the UI on mobile so a good 15-20% of the screen is permanently covered by buttons and text. Personally I only watch the handful of shorts a day published by the channels I subscribe to, so I only deal with it for a few minutes at a time.
I've seen some YouTube streamers experimenting with vertical streams (I'm assuming it's something YouTube has been pushing to try to attract the younger demo) and it's so dumb because while, yes, the streamer can now take up nearly the entire screen, it means there's nowhere left to put chat or titles or anything else (god forbid you try to play a game) and is thus a substandard experience. I can sorta understand it for like a casual IRL stream where you just prop your phone up while you're eating or hold it while walking around or whatever, but I just don't see the point for someone who's streaming from a desktop setup. If I'm on mobile I'd rather have a normal horizontal stream so I can choose between no UI with the stream using the whole phone screen (for passive viewing) or all the UI (chat, buttons, title, etc.) while still being able to type and still being able to see the whole stream smaller but unobstructed.
Idk, maybe it's just boomer Twitch mentality and I'm just failing to understand the other perspective. I guess if you're only typing very short messages or using the little react thing you tap on in the corner the UI thing is less of an issue, and if the stream is someone's body from the waist up it doesn't really matter if the bottom part of the stream is covered by chat. Not for me, but if other people enjoy it it's cool that they're getting an option that better suits their preferences.
Meanwhile youtube is heading in the opposite direction.
They're trying to take market share from each other, but failing to realize how annoying it is for those who only use one of the platforms precisely to avoid the content-style from the other.
Tiktok is 1000x better than Youtube in that it actually gives you the content you genuinely want to see. Its algorithm actually fucking works and isn't a far right machine. That's why the ruling class fucking hates it.
Tiktok competing with Youtube is fucking good news and I hope they go for it.
Although nobody is going to be watching a 60m video on their phone. They'll need to have a decent web presence and tv app to make that viable, and maybe account for which platform is best suited for which length.
YouTube is unfortunately pushing shorts more in search and in recommendations. They’re really good for retention. They’ve also started adding banners to the bottom of a video following an ad. So they’re just gonna keep pushing them more.
Hey TikTok if you’re gonna do this, could you finally add some fucking timestamps to your progress bar so we know how long a video’s going to be? I understand hiding the number increases retention, but it’s an accessibility issue for some people.
I'm cool with it tho. Anything to take away market share from the crony capitalist tech companies. I don't watch youtube or tiktok myself.. at least not on purpose, but I hate everything google so I applaud anyone making them hurt even the slightest amount