YouTube launches TikTok rival to be tested in India

YouTube launches TikTok rival to be tested in India
YouTube launches TikTok rival to be tested in India
2 Min Read

Daily US Times: Video sharing platform YouTube has announced it will test a beta version of its new TiktTok rival in India.

YouTube Shorts will limit videos to 15 seconds, and the platform will feature creator tools that are similar to the popular Chinese-owned TikTok’s.

India has banned TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps in June in circumstances of border tensions rose between the two countries.

India was TikTok’s biggest foreign market at that time, with an estimated 120 million users.

YouTube will also be in competition with a number of local competitors who have rushed in to fill the void after TikTok’s ban in India.

YouTube’s vice president of product management Chris Jaffe said in a blog post that Shorts is “for creators and artists who want to shoot short, catchy videos using nothing but their mobile phones”.

The new platform features a multi-segment camera to string multiple video clips together, a timer and countdown to record hands-free and speed controls.

Shorts also gives users the option access to a library of songs as well as to record using music.

Shorts would be expanded to other markets as the product becomes more refined and new features were added, Mr Jaffe said.

The latest product release from YouTube comes as the Oracle, a US tech firm, confirmed that TikTok’s owner ByteDance had formally proposed becoming a “trusted technology partner” in the US.

The aim of the deal is to avoid President Trump’s threat to shut down the app in the US over national security concerns.

President Donald Trump has suggested users’ data could be accessed by the Chinese government under current arrangements.

India’s government cited similar concerns when it banned the Chinese app in June.

India’s ban was announced following clashes at the Galwan Valley on the China-India border in the Himalayas.

You may read: TikTok will partner with Oracle in the United States