TikTok starts testing a horizontal full-screen mode

TikTok has started testing a new horizontal full-screen mode. TechCrunch reports that select TikTok users are starting to see a new full-screen button on regular square and rectangular videos. The button, much like a similar one on YouTube, shifts the TikTok video into a horizontal full-screen mode.

TikTok confirmed the limited test to TechCrunch, after several users have been noticing the full-screen button appear in recent weeks. It now brings the social video network even closer to YouTube. What’s largely set TikTok and YouTube apart is TikTok’s focus on portrait video, with creators having to create separate videos for both TikTok and YouTube to utilize the different platform’s strengths.

If this full-screen mode means creators can now create a single video that’s optimized for both YouTube and TikTok, we may well see more longer-form videos on TikTok that you’d typically only find on YouTube. TikTok expanded its maximum video length to 10 minutes earlier this year, after testing ever-longer uploads for years.

While TikTok is increasingly offering more than just short videos, competitors like Instagram and YouTube have both launched shot-form videos in the form of Reels and Shorts, respectively. Snapchat even offers Spotlight, a tab in the Snapchat app that offers up short-form video content.

TikTok’s test of a horizontal full-screen mode follows a long-awaited test of its in-app shopping feature. TikTok Shop will allow users to purchase products without leaving the app, and has already launched in regions like the US and Indonesia.