Everything old is new again. After killing the pre-TikTok short-form video platform Vine in 2017, Twitter is using its new overhaul as X to relaunch its video initiative. That includes a smart TV app, according to X CEO Linda Yaccarino.
In a post on her personal X account yesterday, Yaccarino previewed the app’s UI and laid out some of its earliest features. The result looks like something of a cross between TikTok and YouTube.
On the more YouTube side of things, the app looks like it’ll be structured around various tabs that users scroll through horizontally, with their account info resting in a left hand sidebar. Also in line with YouTube is the length of videos. Despite X’s current association with short videos, some of the examples in Yaccarino’s post are multiple hours long.
But to compete with TikTok (which is facing its own problems), X is also placing a greater emphasis on algorithms and AI. The trending tab is right at the top of the app’s UI, and while YouTube’s TV app does something similar when users aren’t logged in, X is also promising to supplement its algorithm with “AI-Powered Topics” and “Enhanced Video Search.”
It’s unclear how exactly these promises will play out in reality. The announcement follows Yaccarino’s earlier promise that X will become “a video first platform,” as platform owner Elon Musk continues to secure deals with content providers like WWE.
Notable among Musk’s deals is the platform’s spotlight on controversial figures including Tulsi Gabbard and Tucker Carlson, the latter of whom appears in Yaccarino’s preview of the app’s UI.
X is fighting an uphill battle to establish itself as a video platform, especially as its more traditional text-based business is currently being overrun with malware and spam. To help with the transition, X won’t have ads in its app at launch, according to a note to corporate partners seen by The Hollywood Reporter. A release date has not been specified.
