News

Bringing Vertical Video to Pugpig Bolt

Vertical video in Pugpig Bolt gives publishers a powerful way to showcase short-form content inside their own app. Built to feel as smooth as TikTok and Reels, Bolt’s vertical video tabs help you extend the value of video you’re already creating, drive deeper engagement and keep audiences on platforms you control.

11th December 2025

Vertical Video header

If you scroll through any major app today, you’ll notice the same thing: we’re all watching more video, and most of it’s vertical. TikTok built an entire multi-billion-dollar business on it, and Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat have all followed suit.

In a recent survey by media.net, 90% of consumers said they’re open to seeing short-form vertical video on publisher sites. 61% said they find vertical video more engaging than articles, podcasts or long-form video.

Publishers are already creating this content for social media but until now, that value has mostly lived on someone else’s platform. With true vertical video support arriving in Pugpig Bolt, we’re unlocking a way to bring that content back into your owned and operated app, where you control the experience, the relationship and the revenue.


What we’ve built

We’ve introduced a dedicated vertical video experience in Bolt, designed to feel as smooth and intuitive as the apps your audiences already use every day.

It’s a full-screen, swipe-driven feed, optimised for vertical video uploaded directly from your CMS. Think TikTok or Reels, but built for your app, your audience and your business model.


Why we built it

Our publishers are already investing in high-quality short-form video, especially for social. But that content has traditionally only driven engagement on third-party platforms.

With Bolt, you can now:

In short: if users are spending time with vertical video, publishers should be able to benefit from that engagement in their own app, not just give all of that value to TikTok, Instagram or YouTube.


Product decisions that matter

We’ve focused on making the experience feel fast, natural and genuinely enjoyable to use. Key capabilities include:

If it doesn’t feel great, users won’t come back. So we prioritised speed, responsiveness and simplicity above all else.


What’s coming next

Vertical video is currently available as a standalone tab. Next, we’ll make it easier to jump into the feed from elsewhere in the app. For example, tapping a vertical clip in a homepage carousel could take a user straight into the video feed, rather than keeping it as a disconnected experience.

We’re also exploring light social behaviour such as commenting and reactions, as well as deeper hooks into other formats like Follow (our personalisation feature), playlists and recommendations. The aim is for vertical video to feel like part of a wider habit-building toolkit, not just a one-off destination.


Who’s using it first?

We’re already working with a number of publishers on rolling out this new experience, including those who’ve used earlier iterations in Bolt. We expect adoption to move quickly, especially among newsrooms and magazines already producing large amounts of video for social.  

If you’re creating short-form video today, this unlocks a way to do more with the content you already make.


Want to see it?

We’re currently sharing early demos with publishers who are exploring new ways to build habit and engagement through video.

If you’d like to take a look, get in touch and we’ll show you what’s possible.

Latest in News