YouTube Announces New Features For Shorts

As competition with TikTok and Reels heats up, YouTube announced a slate of new features designed to make its short-form video product, YouTube Shorts, more compelling. In a video update for creators, YouTube Chief Product Officer Johanna Voolich introduced six new tools that will help creators craft their Shorts videos, including those that will automatically transform longer videos into Shorts, among others, as well as tools to inspire creation, like an “Add Yours” sticker that prompts others to share their own content related to a creator’s video. “One thing I love is that anyone can build a Short — even I can build a Short — because we have all these tools that make it a very accessible way to become a creator,” Voolich said ahead of the introduction of the new tools and features. Two of the offerings focus on how you want to present the audio and speech in your video. For instance, one lets you create auto-generated captions that you can edit and customize with different fonts and colors, while another lets you choose from four voices to have your text narrated or spoken out loud.