Why short vertical video trends excite me for the upcoming Chromebook Google Photos video editor

Google promised us a Chromebook-specific video editor for Chromebooks this fall, so you know we are eagerly awaiting that arrival. While ChromeOS has grown in so many ways over the years, simple video edits have never really been a part of that growth trend. And while I don’t hate the online video editing options out there like WeVideo or ClipChamp, they simply cannot replace the usefulness of an on-device video editor at this point.

As many of you know, Chrome Unboxed began life as a YouTube channel first, and the early content that was shared in that space was all made by yours truly. Granted, it was pretty bad, but I did what I could on my phone and on my Chromebook, and even though looking back at those videos can be embarrassing, it is also cool to be able to remember where we’ve come from.

Today, due to a handful of very strange circumstances, I found myself in the video editing chair once again. As we begin leaning into short-form video formats like YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and TikTok, quick-turn video without all the production requirements has become part of that general experience. As a matter of fact, many YouTube creators are learning that less-produced, more-raw shorts do exponentially better than well-lit, highly-produced content does.

As the Ringke Slim Case for the Pixel Watch showed up a bit surprisingly today, I felt compelled to make a Short for the initial reaction and unboxing. Joe and Andrew are both unavailable, so it fell to me, and I decided to just go for it. I used CapCut on my phone, pointed, shot, and quickly edited down the result. It was raw, simple, and – if I’m being frank – a lot of fun to do.

Don’t get me wrong, I love creating highly-produced video. But that stuff takes time. A lot of time. And skills that I don’t possess on my own. Today’s video, on the other hand, was done on a whim with only a phone, my voice, and an app. And that’s exactly why the upcoming Google Photos video editor for Chromebooks has me so excited right now. Let me explain.

Why short-form vertical videos are so beloved

In the event that you aren’t aware of the years-long trend, short-form vertical videos are absolutely dominating the zeitgeist right now. Though you could contend that Vine (remember them?) did it first, you can’t argue that TikTok did it best. While I’m not here to put TikTok on a pedestal or vilify it, I and anyone else on the internet have to at least concede that it made (is making?) a dent in the way humanity consumes content.

From Instagram to Facebook to YouTube, all the big tech companies are now firmly on-board the short-form video train, and there’s no stopping it at this point. Unlike a tech ‘advancement’ like 3D TVs that were foisted on us by manufacturers before being patently rejected by the buying public after a few short years, short/vertical video seems to be here to stay.

In my head, that comes down to a few factors: the devices we consume content on the most (phones) and the general malaise we find ourselves in when perusing web-based content. Vertical videos fill our screen without the need of rotation and they are short enough to not ask for huge chunks of our already-divided attention spans. Anyone who gives them a try instantly loves them, and that’s why the explosive growth of this segment won’t slow down any time soon.

The democratization of video content on the web

And with this trend likely sticking around for the long haul, there are some big benefits that come along with it. The most important change in my mind is the democratization of video content. When you think of long-form, produced YouTube content or network TV shows, what comes to mind? Production value. Cinematic lighting. Scripts. Equipment. Money. Time. All of these things and more are required to create content that does well on those platforms.

And I love that stuff! A well-made YouTube video is awesome and I can’t even begin to imagine what it takes for a show like Westworld to become a reality. There’s great value in this sort of video content and anyone is lying to you if they tell you they don’t value it. Short-form video isn’t here to replace those platforms. It’s here for something altogether different.

Short-form video brings back a lot of the energy of the early days of YouTube when it was all about regular people making interesting video content. It has transitioned away from that over the years, and short-form videos are here to resurrect that way of making content.

Face it: you don’t want to wait a week for a simple video showcasing the look and feel of a bumper case for your Pixel Watch. You likely don’t care about the setting, the lighting, the audio, or the B-roll: you just want a quick look at the thing in action and a few words about whether it is any good or not. I know because I feel the exact same way!

For some things, long, produced videos are the absolute right fit, but for so much content out there, short-form video is the answer to it actually getting made. And with the cameras many of us have on our phones being so capable, any moment is ripe for creation! If there’s something interesting or creative or mind-blowing, it doesn’t necessarily need a production crew to be shared. It just needs a phone pointed at it and an upload to hit the internet.

And that’s what I mean by content democracy: any creative person anywhere at any time could make the next viral video. I’m constantly blown away by what people make with just a phone and a simple app, and while watching Shorts doesn’t replace my normal YouTube consumption, it is a solid part of it these days.

A simple video editor for simple videos, for everyone

And that same idea applies to this new Google Photos video editor that will be available on Chromebooks soon. With platforms like Shorts, Reels, and TikTok, there is so much potential for new, creative, inventive, entertaining, informative video content out there, and this new app will make it even easier to create on budget-friendly laptops.

While we don’t have all the details, we know it will provide basic video editing and that’s all this new wave of short-form video requires. No one wants flashy edits or movie magic with all this: they want real people doing really cool stuff. Soon, with ChromeOS and something like an affordable Pixel 6a, users will have a reasonably-cheap way of filming, editing and uploading content like this right from a Chromebook.

Can you do this right from your phone? Absolutely, but even making quick edits is an easier task on a larger screen with the precision of a mouse. Instead of requiring Windows or MacOS, soon these types of videos will be easily made with just a Chromebook and a little bit of imagination.

And after using the excellent CapCut on my Pixel 7 Pro to put together my YouTube Short today, I can confidently say that I’m ready to try out even more of these in the future as video editing shows up on my Chromebook with an interface and UI that is built to take advantage of the larger screen and mouse inputs I have at my disposal. Google promised a fall release, and if that’s the case, we don’t have too much longer to wait for it. I know I’m excited to get back into basic video creation and I can’t wait to see what people begin making on Chromebooks as this substantial upgrade to the ChromeOS experience arrives.