Facebook’s New Features: Reels Instead Of Videos, Passkeys For Sign-In On iOS, Android Phones

Meta Inc. is bringing about fresh changes to Facebook, killing the years-old “videos” on the social network to replace them with reels and introducing passkeys for a seamless and safer sign-in.

The Facebook parent company announced these changes on its website blog.

Meta said that over the next few month, “all videos on Facebook will be shared as reels” and users will not get an option to choose between video and reel. Facebook is also changing the Video tab to Reels tab. The good news is users don’t need to worry about restrictions on length or format of the reel.

Earlier, users had to upload a video to the Feed or create a reel using various creative workflows and tools for different formats. Facebook has streamlined the process, offering users a broader range of tools for short, long, and Live videos. 

Additionally, users can choose who can view reels through audience settings, and default privacy settings in Feed posts and reels will be the same.

Facebook is also introducing passkeys on mobiles in an attempt to improve privacy and security. Passkeys will be available on iOS and Android devices, with the same passkey working across Facebook and Messenger once the latter gets the feature in the next few months.

Passkeys, which are more secure than passwords, will allow users to login to Facebook and Messenger through verification using their fingerprint, face or device PIN. They can also be used to autofill payment information when making purchases using Meta Pay.

Facebook highlighted that users’ passkeys and fingerprint, face scan or PIN are stored on device and it never sees, shares or stores them.

Users can set up and manage passkeys in the Accounts Center in the Settings menu on Facebook. Once set up, they can be used to log in to the platform on mobile. Other authentication methods like passwords will still work on devices such as laptops and PCs that don’t support passkeys.