(Web Desk) - Video streaming giant, YouTube has announced new features for Shorts, its short-form video feature, to compete with TikTok and Reels.

These features aim to make creating and watching Shorts more engaging.

YouTube Chief Product Officer Johanna Voolich introduced six new tools and features, saying, “One thing I love is that anyone can build a Short — even I can build a Short — because we have all these tools that make it a very accessible way to become a creator.”

Creators can customise auto-generated captions with options for different fonts and colours, as well as a selection of voices for text-to-speech narration.

Creators can now utilise two new effects, "Minecraft Spring" allows filming within the Minecraft world, while "Minecraft Rush" introduces a mini-game where users compete to clear blocks as fast as possible.

YouTube is using its extensive library of public videos with innovative tools. An upcoming auto layout tool will simplify the transformation of regular videos into Shorts by automatically tracking the main subject, dynamically adjusting pan, zoom, and crop.

Another new feature allows creators to remix existing remixes of Shorts videos, expanding the creative possibilities beyond traditional content sources.

Despite the announcement that Shorts videos currently receive 70 billion daily views, the same as last September, YouTube's head suggested potential experiments with longer Shorts videos beyond the current 60-second limit.