YouTube is Copying TikTok with This Great Quality-of-Life Feature

A YouTube logo is surrounded by TikTok logos on a white background.
Credit: YouTube / TikTok

A YouTube logo is surrounded by TikTok logos on a white background.
Credit: YouTube / TikTok

When it comes to social media apps and platforms, major players often copy each other. TikTok's popularity led Meta and Google to release similar short-form video features on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube respectively, so it's no surprise that an upcoming YouTube feature is borrowing from TikTok once again.

Both platforms are worthy additions to the best apps for iPhone and best apps for Android lists, and with consistent improvements, both TikTok and YouTube offer excellent options for video content. However, TikTok is more social media-focused than YouTube, with features like TikTok streaks and the TikTok Inside Out 2 filter keeping people engaged with their friends or favorite creators.

If you haven’t disabled it, YouTube Shorts serves as an alternative to TikTok, providing plenty of short-form videos that you can watch and quickly swipe away. Recently, YouTube announced in a community post that it is bringing Picture-in-Picture support for YouTube Shorts.

This feature, which is coming soon to Android smartphones, shrinks the video player into a small window, allowing you to use and access other apps while watching Shorts. This makes it easy to play popular Android games like Subway Surfers if you need a quick distraction, and if you lack the attention span like many of us do now.

Notably, TikTok already supports this feature, making it another instance of YouTube adopting existing quality-of-life improvements from the popular social media and video app. However, it's always great to see updates coming to YouTube, even if you need YouTube Premium to access them.

As part of the community post, YouTube is also introducing additional Premium plans and asking users to test features in the experimental phases. These include a conversational AI that could rival some of the best AI chatbots and tools like Snapchat's 'My AI', as well as the ability to download batches of YouTube Shorts for offline viewing.

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