Software
Instagram's TikTok rival is coming to the United States next month.
Instagram plans to announce the TikTok clone in the US and more than 50 other countries in a couple of weeks, NBC News announced this morning. Instagram later announced to TechCrunch that the feature would be released in the US "early August" and beyond.
The feature, called Reels, is Instagram's attempt to recreate a short music video format that thrives on TikTok. Reels will allow users to capture and edit 15-second music video clips, or users will be able to replay audio from another person's recording, as is usually seen on TikTok. To date, this feature is only available in a few countries , including India and Brazil.
Instagram — like its parent, Facebook — has a tradition of replicating common features in other applications. The Stories feature was taken from Snapchat, and it contributed to exponential development for Instagram, seemingly at Snapchat's expense. Seeing TikTok's rapid rise, Instagram is likely to hope for the same feat again.
The launch also comes as political momentum rises up against TikTok in the United States. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said yesterday that the administration was planning to take steps against TikTok in "weeks," after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released a possible security ban earlier this month.
Right now, it seems like Instagram doesn't really go all-in to Reels, however. Reels will live inside the Instagram Posts, where there will be one of the several choices while sharing. Yet videos don't usually hang on, as they do on TikTok, unless the makers directly add them to their profile, TechCrunch reported earlier.
It's still not clear exactly whether fans are going to choose Reels to watch. We will stay inside the Discover page, but NBC News said today that Instagram would add a new page at the bottom of the screen where you'll be able to access it. A dedicated browsing window could render the interface a lot more like TikTok, which drops users straight through an infinite scrolling screen.
