Not another TikTok clone! Now TWITTER is adding a scrolling feed of videos to its iOS app that can be expanded to ‘immersive’ full screen with a single tap
- Twitter becomes the latest online platform to copy Chinese video giant TikTok
- It’s changing its video player so users can expand them to full screen with a tap
- The app is also getting a new video carousel in Explore tab for iOS and Android
Twitter has become the latest online platform to imitate China’s TikTok by adding an ‘immersive’ video experience, following in the footsteps of Instagram and YouTube.
The US platform has said it’s changing its video player so Twitter users can expand videos to full screen with a single tap.
Currently, videos on Twitter only take up part of the screen, but switching them to full screen will mimic a trend that was pioneered by TikTok and copied by rivals.
The change will appear ‘in the coming days’ for English-speaking Twitter users who are using the Twitter app on iOS, but not for Android.
Once the video has been launched in full screen mode, users can scroll up to start browsing more ‘engaging video content’.
Twitter is changing its video player so users can expand videos to full screen with a single click – just like videos on TikTok
HOW TO GET FULL SCREEN ON TWITTER
To activate the new ‘immersive’ full screen, iOS users just need simply tap on a video in the Twitter app.
Once the video has been launched in full screen mode, users can scroll up to start browsing more ‘engaging video content’.
If users want to exit full screen and go back to the original tweet, they have to click the arrow in the top left corner.
It will make watching videos more ‘immersive’ and make it easier to ‘watch what’s happening’, Twitter said.
Also, Twitter is adding a new video carousel to the Explore tab (indicated by a magnifying glass) for both iOS and Android users on the app.
Twitter detailed the updates in a blog post published on Thursday, although it didn’t acknowledge any possible influence of the Chinese app.
‘Videos are a huge part of the public conversation, and they’re one of the most engaging ways people can express themselves online,’ the blog post reads.
‘In fact, videos shared on Twitter receive billions of combined views every year.
‘We want to make it easy for everyone to use our service in the way that best fits their needs, and videos (including fun movie teasers) are an important part of that.’
Jake Moore, tech expert and security advisor at ESET, said rival tech firms are scrambling to replicate TikTok’s features in an attempt to hold on to users.
‘With TikTok taking the prominent lead in the social media race, those behind are seemingly desperate to replicate its success,’ he told MailOnline.
‘Video content is clearly being viewed as the front runner across all of the platforms and other big names are quickly reacting and attempting to adapt now in order to keep up with these successes.’
Instagram and Facebook, which are owned by Mark Zuckerberg’s company Meta, have already introduced TikTok-esque features.
TikTok is known for its fast-paced vertically scrolling feed and, in May, Instagram confirmed it would be testing the same format.
At the time, Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, said: ‘We’re trying to figure out how to advance Instagram forward in a world where more and more people are going to be mobile-first.’
Currently, videos on Twitter only take up part of the screen, but switching them to full screen will mimic a trend that was pioneered by TikTok
Instagram has faced criticism for shifting away from its original focus on photos to short-form videos – notably from media personality Kylie Jenner, who urged Meta to ‘make Instagram Instagram again’ and said it should ‘stop trying to be TikTok’.
Facebook, meanwhile, introduced Reels, its blatant attempt to mimic the TikTok experience, last year.
Facebook describes Reels as ‘a new way to create short, entertaining videos, get discovered by new audiences and be part of cultural moments on Facebook’.
Just like with TikTok, Reels users just have to swipe the screen to watch an endless library of short-form clips.
In February, Zuckerberg revealed Facebook had seen a decline in daily users for the first time in its history – squaring the blame largely at TikTok.
Even Google-owned YouTube has been in on the act, releasing YouTube Shorts, which present clips in portrait mode and limits them to 60 seconds in length.
With it, YouTube added the ability to sample audio from the more than 800 million videos on the platform.
Like TikTok, YouTube Shorts allows users to post short-form videos of up to 60-seconds from their smartphones
ZUCKERBERG BLAMES TIKTOK AFTER FACEBOOK LOSES USERS FOR THE FIRST TIME
In February, it was revealed that Facebook lost daily users for the first time in its 18-year history in the final quarter of 2021, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes was caused by the TikTok boom.
The social media giant’s earnings report sent Facebook shares plunging $20, wiping more than $200bn off the company’s market cap and erasing $29bn from Zuckerberg’s net worth.
Facebook reported a drop of nearly 500,000 in daily logins during the last three months of 2021.
‘People have a lot of choices for how they want to spend their time, and apps like TikTok are growing very quickly,’ Zuckerberg said at the time.
Zuckerberg reiterated that Meta – the company that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – is pushing hard to develop its short-form video Reels in an effort to compete with TikTok.
‘This is why our focus on Reels is so important over the long term,’ he added.
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