2 min read
The fate of TikTok in the US is still uncertain, so the company owned by ByteDance thought now would be a good time to improve the platform’s (previously dull) desktop experience. Among the new additions are a floating player for Chrome, a rearranged navigation bar, an Explore tab, and, perhaps most notably for Twitch, the ability to stream live games in landscape mode.
The search bar, top-level shortcuts, and left-side links were the previous layout of the TikTok online app until Thursday’s revisions. You can now find all of them on the left-hand vertical menu. In an effort to better compete with platforms like Twitch and YouTube, the goal is to make watching content on the platform more immersive by reducing distractions.
Speaking of Twitch, you can now stream full-screen games in both portrait and landscape modes on TikTok. You were limited to utilizing TikTok’s Live Studio app for the latter until now. Desktop viewers will automatically see a landscape broadcast, but mobile viewers may simply rotate their devices to get a widescreen experience, just like everyone did before TikTok.
However, only Chrome for desktops has a floating player that keeps TikTok visible above all other windows.
You can now create custom categories to organize your favorite movies and make them easier to find later using the new Collections tool, which is similar to YouTube’s playlists. Among the mobile app’s features that are making the transition to the desktop are the For You feed and the Explore page. The former provides algorithmically selected content based on your preferences, while the latter displays popular content and trending hashtags.
The updated desktop browser version is now accessible worldwide.
