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Google Goes After TikTok Fans With 'YouTube Shorts' Feature

YouTube Shorts launches as a beta in India, which recently banned TikTok over spying concerns.

Michael Kan
 & Michael Kan Principal Reporter

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Google’s YouTube is launching a TikTok competitor it calls YouTube Shorts.

The app will roll out in India before arriving in other countries, and will enable users to create and publish 15-second videos, using tools already available on TikTok. String multiple video clips together, set them to music from a library of popular songs, and control the footage’s speed. 

However, YouTube Shorts won't be a standalone product. Instead, it will be baked inside the existing YouTube mobile app. Google is also indicating it’s going to change the YouTube homepage with a new section devoted to the short-form clips, making them easy to find. 

But why launch it first in India? In June, the country banned TikTok over concerns the Chinese-owned video-sharing app represents a potential spying threat. So YouTube Shorts will arrive in India when many local users have been looking for an alternative. 

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Although TikTok denies it poses a security threat, the app has been facing the same spying charges in the US. The Trump administration has been threatening to ban it, but just yesterday TikTok reportedly struck a deal with Oracle to jointly run the video-sharing app. Whether the arrangement will appease the White House remains unclear at this point. 

As for YouTube, the platform is launching YouTube Shorts first for Android users in India before expanding it to iOS. Users in the country can start creating the videos via a new “+” icon at the bottom of the app, which lets them upload a normal clip or a YouTube Short. 

Related

“We’ll continue to add more features and expand to more countries in the coming months as we learn from you and listen to your feedback,” YouTube wrote in today’s announcement. 

Facebook has also created a rival to TikTok with Instagram Reels. It too lives inside Instagram, which some tech journalists have found confusing.

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About Our Expert

Michael Kan

Michael Kan

Principal Reporter

My Experience

I've been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I'm currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country's technology sector.

Since 2020, I've covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I've combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink's cellular service.

I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.

I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I'm now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I'm always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.

The Best Tech I've Had:

  • My first video game console: a Nintendo Famicom
  • I loved my Sega Saturn despite PlayStation's popularity.
  • The iPod Video I received as a gift in college
  • Xbox 360 FTW
  • The Galaxy Nexus was the first smartphone I was proud to own.
  • The PC desktop I built in 2013, which still works to this day.

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