As TikTok continues to expand its video features, the company quietly added video-scrubbing thumbnails to its platform this week. Users are now able to quickly find a particular point in a long video with the updated addition. Matt Navarra, a social media consultant, spotted the feature first.
It might not be available for everyone just yet since the feature is just starting to roll out this week. As I was unable to see the video-scrubbing thumbnails on older videos, it appears that they are only available for new uploads. Although users have been able to rewind or fast forward long videos on TikTok for quite some time now, the addition of thumbnails makes the process more intuitive.
If, for example, you want to get to a specific part of a TikTok recipe video. Previously, you would have had to scroll blindly through the video. By using the updated thumbnails, you can now see which part of the movie you want to fast forward to.
It was only a matter of time before TikTok added this feature, since it is slowly encroaching on YouTube’s territory. For what seems like forever, YouTube has offered scrubbed thumbnails, so TikTok should offer them as well, especially since it aims to be a viable option for long-form video creators.
In recent months, TikTok has been working to improve the viewing experience for its users. This is because the company introduced the ability for users to upload videos up to 10 minutes long. With select users globally, TikTok began testing a brand-new horizontal full-screen mode last month.
According to data, kids and teens now spend more time watching TikTok than YouTube. The trend has been apparent since June 2020, when TikTok began to overtake YouTube in terms of the average number of minutes people ages 4 to 11 spend watching both video platforms on a daily basis. TikTok is moving closer to YouTube by continually improving its viewing experience.
