TikTok video length triples for all users

TikTok videos are getting longer, with the short clip social network tripling the maximum length of footage it allows. Since it launched – and became a Gen Z mainstay – TikTok has supported up to 60 seconds of video, and users have amply demonstrated that's more than enough to go viral at times.

Now, though, TikTok has clearly decided that you can't have too much of a good thing. The company has been testing out longer videos for some time now already, trialing the three minute clips with different creators, but now it's rolling out for all TikTok users.

"Creators are already well-versed in weaving multi-part stories together on TikTok (we all know the phrase, "like and follow for part 3") but we often hear from creators that they'd love just a little more time to bring their cooking demos, elaborate beauty tutorials, educational lesson plans, and comedic sketches to life with TikTok's creative tools," Drew Kirchhoff, Product Manager at the company, said today. "With longer videos, creators will have the canvas to create new or expanded types of content on TikTok, with the flexibility of a bit more space."

Longer clip support will be rolling out over the coming weeks to all users, Kirchhoff explains. It'll support up to three minutes of footage, with the same editing functionality as you have now. A notification will alert you to your expanded time options when your account has been upgraded.

It's been a hectic year for TikTok, as the company gradually emerges from the shadow of the Trump Administration's threatened ban. That fizzled out, with President Biden signing a new Executive Order that dropped the block on TikTok – as well as WeChat and AliPay – in June, though monitoring remains over concerns about ties to the Chinese government.

Meanwhile, TikTok has been expanding its functionality to try to spread beyond just brief video clips. Last month, it announced TikTok Jump mini-apps, which could be linked from a creator's video and show recipes, load quizzes, walk through tutorials, or even allow for service bookings and similar. The goal, TikTok said at the time, was to fill in the "last mile" of learning, after your intrigue had been whetted from watching a video.