Google has launched the YouTube Shorts experience on television and has actually found a way for the portrait-style videos to not look absolutely terrible on the landscape television.
In a blog post, the company explained how and why it optimised the TikTok-inspired sub-60-second portrait videos for the largest display in the home.
The company said it has put an “incredible amount of thought and care has gone into bringing this vertical, mobile-first experience to the big screen.”
Google has ditched the traditional video player for the rollout, meaning a less clunky experience, customised to make use of the black borders either side of the video content. It has also placed a more attractive border around the videos, with slightly curved edges, akin to the smartphone design.
It decided against using a jukebox-style presentation with videos either side of the playing content because it “strayed too far from the essence of Shorts, which features one video at a time,” Google said.
In the end, it decided on a design that focused on a single video, minus the consistent video player design, that still gave users access to features they expect from YouTube, such as one the ability to subscribe, find related content, like and dislike videos, and more.
You can see a version of what YouTube is calling its “maximal prototype” below. The company says: “We believe that this experience balances the fun, quirkiness of Shorts in a way that feels natural for TV.”
