A new horizontal full screen mode is being tested by TikTok. The test feature will allow users to see a full screen button in their feed. When you click the button, the video will move into a horizontal full screen mode that will take advantage of the real estate on your phone.

The test feature is one of the ways that TikTok is gaining ground. TikTok users can now post videos up to 10 minutes long. The move was seen as a way for TikTok to get more long-form video creators on their platform. With the expansion, creators were able to film things like cooking demos, beauty tutorials, educational content, comedy sketches and more, without having to worry about the video being too long.

It makes sense for the company to improve the viewing experience for users who are watching long-form videos, while also making the creative experience better for creators. At the beginning of a video, creators will often add a message that says "turn your phone" to get users to watch the video. This feature would eliminate the need for creators to do that.

Some people may like the test feature but others may not. TikTok is the app that popularized the vertical video scrolling format that other companies were quick to copy, so its users may not like the new full screen mode after being used to the vertical format.

TikTok's new full screen mode

This image is from a Screenshot/TechCrunch.

It is not known when or if the full screen mode will be released to all users. The final product may look different if TikTok releases the feature officially.

It's possible that TikTok could change the feature before an official roll out. Users will be able to turn their phone sideways to watch in full screen in the future if you click the button to switch to full screen.

Data shows that kids and teens now spend more time on TikTok than on YouTube. Since June 2020, when TikTok began to outrank YouTube in terms of average minutes per day, this has been the case. By making its viewing experience better, TikTok is moving further into the territory of the video sharing website.

On the other hand, TikTok is not the only TikTok competing with Shorts. Changes to its partner program allowed creators to make money on shorts. No short-form video platform had figured out how to share ad revenue prior to this.

Kids and teens now spend more time watching TikTok than YouTube, new data shows