YouTube just rolled out four updates for Shorts, and they cover everything from long-requested quality-of-life fixes to changes that are going to divide opinion.
Starting with the good stuff, YouTube is adding a Clear Screen mode that strips away every overlay from the Shorts player, letting the video fill the full screen without clutter.
So what exactly is changing on YouTube Shorts?
Shorts are also getting 2x playback speed (by pulling down on the screen), something that long-form content consumers have enabled by default, especially for podcasts. I can see people using 2x speed for Shorts that are closer to the maximum duration: 3 minutes.
Rounding out the useful additions are an easier mute option (tap to pause, then tap the mute icon) and the ability to set a Shorts timer, including to zero if you want to cut yourself off entirely.
To me, it looks like YouTube has borrowed several pages from Instagram’s playbook, as three out of these four upgrades are already live for Reels.
Is removing the dislike button from Shorts actually a good idea?
Then there’s the part that might spark a few conversations. YouTube is changing the thumbs-up icon into a heart, which is a cosmetic change that’s perfectly fine.
However, it’s also removing the dislike button from Shorts entirely (similar to how it hid dislike count in 2021). So, you’ll no longer see the dislike or the thumbs-down button between the thumbs-up and the comment button toward the right side of the screen.
That overlay menu will step down from five to four controls. If you don’t like what you see, you can still tap on the three-dot button at the top right and then select the “Not Interested,” “Don’t Recommend This Channel,” and “Report” buttons.
The explanation sounds believable at first. YouTube says there could be numerous reasons someone dislikes a Short, from bad audio to it not being their genre, and that the available options give viewers better control over their feed.
That logic isn’t wrong, but the dislike button has historically been one of the few ways viewers can push back on low-effort content. All updates are rolling out gradually and may take time to reach all users.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
