YouTube urged to make Shorts its own app: ‘It’s ruined the platform’

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Users are increasingly expressing dissatisfaction towards YouTube due to its brief video content, and they’re advocating for YouTube to create a standalone app for this Shorts feature, similar to TikTok. Critics argue that this short-form content has overloaded the main platform, making it more challenging to locate full-length videos.

Introduced in 2021, YouTube Shorts is Google’s response to the growing popularity of TikTok and Instagram Reels. Now, it takes center stage on the homepage, search results, and suggestions, which has become a concern for some disgruntled users.

It seems that shorts on YouTube have become quite popular, garnering approximately 200 billion views daily. However, some users argue that YouTube may have erred by integrating these shorts into the main YouTube platform rather than establishing them as a standalone entity.

Users demand Shorts be separate from YouTube

On the 5th of July, user Lakshya Lark shared a widely-shared tweet criticizing YouTube. “YouTube would have been better off developing Shorts as a separate application. Now, it seems that the YouTube experience has been spoiled, as every search results in an overflow of Shorts content.

As a gamer, I’d say, “I wish there was a setting I could toggle once and forget about it, so I don’t have to adjust it every time I want to get away from the Shorts. A permanent filter would be perfect.

To make the most out of YouTube, it would be ideal if we could keep the current filter setting permanent. That’s the key to bypassing Shorts and locating genuine video content instead.

— Lakshya Lark (@lakshyalark) July 5, 2025

Later on, the post was circulated on r/YouTube, garnering an impressive response with more than 100,000 upvotes and countless comments that mirrored the general feeling.

As a curious explorer, I discovered that when I seek out something less common, my findings are often overwhelmed by unrelated TikTok-like clips that hold no connection to what I’m searching for.

The search results sometimes display videos unrelated to your query, stating that ‘You might find this interesting.’ This is another user’s explanation.

Numerous viewers have expressed concern that Shorts are altering the unique aspects of YouTube. Instead of longer videos, more in-depth content is getting overshadowed by Shorts that are prioritized by the algorithm.

One user stated, “YouTube isn’t the spot for me when it comes to Shorts; instead, I prefer watching lengthy videos.

The frustration has already pushed some users to cancel their Premium subscriptions.

What is your thoughts on this?
byu/ad_gar55 inyoutube

As a devoted admirer, here’s one way I might rephrase that comment: “Among three key factors, I chose to seek alternative resources instead of renewing my subscription.

YouTube hasn’t responded to increasing demands for a dedicated Shorts app as yet, but the criticism underscores a larger concern about what users truly desire from the platform.

Additionally, the platform decided to display advertisements on Shorts for those who have subscribed to YouTube’s economical tier, known as YouTube Premium Lite, which is a more affordable alternative to the standard Premium service.

Google has faced criticism too, as it integrates certain contentious elements into YouTube, like AI summaries, which have drawn significant flak against Google Search.

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2025-07-07 23:49