YouTube has introduced a series of changes to Shorts, including a new feature that allows users to reduce the time taken to watch short-form videos.
According to TechCrunch, the Google-owned platform announced that Shorts now includes a setting which allows users to watch videos at double speed. YouTube said the feature would help users absorb information more quickly or reach their preferred sections faster.
The platform has also removed the dislike button from Shorts as part of changes aimed at improving the user experience. Users will instead have to use the “Not Interested” and “Don’t recommend this channel” options to avoid certain types of content.
Users who like a video will now have access to a heart emoji instead of the traditional thumbs-up button.
YouTube has also introduced a “Clear Screen mode”, which hides icons and text from the playback view to provide a cleaner viewing experience.
The company said the changes were designed to create a more intuitive Shorts experience. The updates will be introduced gradually, with no specific dates announced.
YouTube entered the short-form video market after the launch of platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels, but Shorts has since gained a large audience. YouTube Chief Executive Neal Mohan said Shorts recorded 200 billion daily views by June 2025.
A recent report showed that Shorts content was increasingly being watched on television screens, with viewers consuming up to 2 billion hours of such content every month.
