TikTok’s Indian Rival Ready For Testing
In June 2020 India banned the use of TikTok and 58 Chinese Apps as border tensions rose between the two countries. India's ban was announced following clashes at the Galwan Valley on the India-China border in the Himalayas. At the time, India was TikTok's biggest foreign market, with an estimated 120 million users.
Now, YouTube has announced it will test a beta version of its new TikTok rival in India. YouTube Shorts will now be promoted and will limit videos to 15 seconds, and the platform will feature creator tools that are similar to the Chinese-owned TikTok's.
Shorts is only available for Android phones right now, but YouTube said it will expand to iPhone and to other countries soon. Users can shoot different videos and stitch them together using the set of creator tools provided. Apart from this, users can also monitor the speed of their video and add music to their videos using YouTube’s song library.
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. In a blog post, YouTube's vice president of product management Chris Jaffe said 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, speed controls, and a timer and countdown to record hands-free. Shorts also gives users the option to record using music as well as access to a library of songs.
The YouTube Shorts comes with a couple of TikTok-like features including the speed, timer and countdown, and a multi-segment camera. The multi-segment camera lets users string multiple video clips together, users also get to add music to their videos from a large library of songs that YouTube promises will continue to grow with time.
YouTube's latest product release comes as the US tech firm Oracle 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 Donald Trump's threat to shut down the app in the US over national security concerns. Mr 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 app in June.
India Today: Indian Express: CNBC: BBC:
You Might Also Read:
US - China Conflict Over Social Media:
