With TikTok kicking off the short horizontal video trend, every other platform went out to get a piece of the pie. Instagram is pretty successful with Reels, and YouTube introduced its own Shorts format for up to 60-seconds long horizontal videos. So far, the Shorts experience has been strictly mobile-only on YouTube, but as the company announced today, this is now changing. Shorts are coming to YouTube for TVs, complete with a dedicated interface that makes the most out of the extra space left and right to the video.

YouTube Shorts for TV doesn’t come as a surprise, and YouTube reveals that it has been testing the capability with a few select users for a while already. Now that the testing is done, the company has started rolling out YouTube Shorts for TV for everyone.

YouTube describes which challenges it had to overcome when porting the mobile feature to TVs. For one, the company had to figure out how to deal with the extra space left and right to horizontal videos on TVs. After a lot of testing, the company decided for a minimalistic look that adds a few key details to the right of the video you’re currently watching, like the title, the creator, options to like and dislike, and which sound was used for it. Similarly, the company also experimented with an auto-scrolling feed that automatically plays the next video when you’re done with the current one, but ultimately, it found that people preferred to use the remote to switch videos themselves once they’re ready.

YouTube makes clear that this is the first iteration of the feature on TVs, and that further changes and tweaks might come soon depending on how people interact with Shorts. The TikTok-like videos will roll out to TV models from 2019 or later as well as on newer game consoles. There is no word on whether set-top boxes or dongles like the Nvidia Shield or the Chromecast with Google TV are also in on the feature, but we presume so.

Some earlier prototypes that didn't make it

Bringing Shorts to TVs is just the latest push YouTube is making for the format. The company first gave Shorts a dedicated section in the mobile YouTube app’s bottom bar, making them both easier to find and also moving them out of the regular video feed on the homepage. In early 2023, the company will also make it possible for YouTube creators to earn money with Shorts, an option that has been missing from the format so far.