YouTube Shorts update lets users double playback speed

YouTube is rolling out a series of changes to Shorts, including a new method that lets users shrink the duration of short-form videos. The Google-owned platform announced Thursday that Shorts now comes with a setting that allows users to double their playback speed. The point of making what is an already brief experience even briefer is to let users "absorb information more quickly or find your favorite part faster," the platform said.

In an apparent bid for a more positive web, YouTube has also nixed the Shorts dislike button. Instead of disliking a video, users will now have to rely on the "Not Interested" and "Don't recommend this channel" functions to disincentivize certain kinds of content. Similarly, instead of clicking on a thumb's up button if they like a video, users will now have access to a heart emoji.

Finally, YouTube is also introducing a new "Clear Screen mode," which is designed to temporarily hide "all icons and text from your playback view," giving users a clean view of their content unencumbered by floating distractions. All of these changes have been made in the service of creating "a more intuitive Shorts experience," the company said. It's not exactly clear when the updates will take effect.

The company said that the features would be rolling out over time, but didn't give exact dates. TechCrunch reached out to Google for more information. YouTube was late to the short-form video space (it launched Shorts in 2024, several years after the launch of TikTok and Instagram Reels), but has managed to attract an audience since then.

YouTube Shorts was averaging 200 billion daily views as of June 2025, CEO Neal Mohan said at keynote in Cannes last year. (We may qualify this impressive metric with the context that YouTube counts a "view" as the very first moment that a video is opened). A report earlier this year showed that Shorts were increasingly being watched on viewers' TV screens — and that as much as 2 billion hours of such content was being consumed per month.

Why this matters: YouTube's updates to Shorts reflect the platform's ongoing efforts to enhance user engagement and create a more positive experience. By introducing features like playback speed control and a heart emoji, YouTube aims to make Shorts more intuitive and appealing to its vast audience. This move also underscores the growing importance of short-form video content, with 200 billion daily views and 2 billion hours of content consumed on TV screens monthly.

As YouTube continues to evolve, developers and businesses will need to adapt their strategies to optimize their Shorts content and leverage these new features. Meanwhile, consumers will benefit from a more streamlined and enjoyable experience, but questions remain about the long-term impact of these changes on user behavior and the platform's overall content ecosystem.