Challenge For TikTok As Standalone Instagram Reels App Likely Coming Soon
Instagram Reels app is likely to pose a major challenge to China's TikTok, which is quite popular in the US. The news follows Meta's release in January of a new video-editing app called Edits.
Meta Platforms is putting pedal to the metal in efforts to challenge the popular short video platform TikTok with the likely launch of a stand-alone Instagram Reels app.
According to a report published by The Information, Adam Mosseri—Instagram’s chief—had told employees this week that the company is thinking of releasing a separate app for its short-form video feature, Reels. The Information cited an individual who overheard these comments.
According to the report, Meta is looking to capitalise on TikTok’s ambiguous state in the U.S. and offer a comparable video-scrolling app to video-loving users that have made TikTok the second-most downloaded app in the U.S. in 2024.
Capitalising Over TikTok’s Uncertain Future
TikTok has had a roller-coaster ride in the US over the past few months. Notably, early in January, the U.S. Supreme Court had imposed a ban on the well-known Chinese-owned video-sharing app due to national security concerns. The law compelled its Chinese owner, ByteDance, to either sell TikTok or face prohibition.
Following that, companies like Apple and Google had blocked TikTok, and it briefly fell off the app charts. It was later restored on app stores following U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order dated Jan. 20 stating “not to take any action to enforce the act for a period of 75 days from today to allow my administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward.”
There have been a range of suitors for the TikTok purchase, including Microsoft, Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, and even a U.S. sovereign wealth fund that Trump has reportedly created, but its future in the U.S. still hangs in the balance.
Meta Makes Move
Meta’s move of a separate app for Reels isn’t its first attempt to venture into short-form video sharing. Back in 2018, Meta had tested a stand-alone video-sharing app called Lasso in an attempt to rival TikTok.
However, the app failed to pick up steam with users, and Meta eventually shut it down.
More recently, Meta in January also unveiled a new video-editing app called Edits. This was an apparent attempt to gain a portion of the user base of CapCut, a comparable video-editing app owned by ByteDance.
