YouTube is giving creators a way to rehearse a vertical livestream before anyone shows up. Practice Mode for Vertical Live opens a private session where creators can work through livestream features without an audience watching.
The company teased the feature nearly a year ago. It targets Vertical Live, YouTube’s livestream format that surfaces inside the Shorts feed.
Practice sessions cover live chat, polls, stickers, green screens and the rest of the broadcast controls. Creator Liaison Rene Ritchie announced it on the Creator Insider channel, framing it as a place to get familiar with the tools before committing to a real broadcast.
Vertical livestreams are built for phones. Viewers run into them while scrolling Shorts and can swipe between live broadcasts the same way they swipe between regular Shorts. Super Chat, Super Stickers and memberships all work in the format, depending on channel eligibility.
Practice before going live
Discovery is the whole point of Vertical Live. Most people don’t go looking for a livestream, but they’ll stop on one that appears mid-scroll.
That’s also what makes Practice Mode useful. Vertical Live has its own control layout and its own etiquette, and learning either one in front of a live chat is a rough way to spend an evening. A creator who has already found the poll button doesn’t have to narrate the search for it.