X Will Receive a Video Application for Smart TV
Everything old is new again. After shutting down pre-TikTok short-video platform Vine in 2017 , Twitter is using a new version of X to restart its video initiative. This includes a Smart TV app, according to X CEO Linda Yaccarino.
Yesterday, on her personal X account, Yaccarino unveiled the app’s user interface and talked about some of its first features. The result looks like a cross between TikTok and YouTube.
As for YouTube, the app looks like it will be structured around various tabs that users scroll horizontally, with their account information located in the left sidebar. The length of the video also matches YouTube. Although X is now associated with short videos, some of the examples in Yaccarino’s post last several hours.
But to compete with TikTok ( which faces its own challenges ), X is also putting more emphasis on algorithms and artificial intelligence. 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 also promises to augment its algorithm with “AI-powered Topics” and “Advanced Video Search.” »
It is unclear how exactly these promises will be implemented in reality. The announcement follows Yaccarino’s earlier promise that X would become a ” video-first platform ” as platform owner Elon Musk continues to make deals with content providers such as WWE .
Notable among Musk’s deals is the platform’s focus on controversial figures, including Tulsi Gabbard and Tucker Carlson, the latter of whom appears in Yaccarino’s preview of the app’s user interface.
X is fighting an uphill battle to establish itself as a video platform, especially as its more traditional text-based business is currently inundated with malware and spam . According to a note to corporate partners seen by The Hollywood Reporter , there will be no ads in the X app at launch. No release date specified.