Instagram may be taking on TikTok with a new app.
The social media platform’s head Adam Mosseri told staff this week that they are considering the launch of a separate app for Reels, its short-form video feature, according to a report by The Information, citing a person who heard the remarks.
The Meta-owned company is looking to take advantage of the uncertainty of Chinese-owned TikTok in the United States.
In January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that suspended the TikTok ban for 75 days to find a U.S. buyer. The extension ends on April 5.
Meta has previously attempted to launch a standalone video-sharing app called Lasso to rival TikTok in 2018, but it was later shut down after not gaining traction.
Instagram is now acting quickly to get the so-called “TikTok refugees” to migrate to the Meta-owned app.
Last month, Mosseri announced a new app called Edits, a video-editing utility that could replace the ByteDance-owned video-editing app CapCut — which was also banned alongside TikTok.
A new feature in the Reels tab will allow you to see which friends have liked or commented on a video — similar to the chaotic, old Instagram “activity” tab that was removed in 2019. Additionally, Meta is testing a highly anticipated feature on Reels that allows users to pause a video just by tapping on it.
Mosseri also shared that they are looking into moving story highlights into the grid, making a separate tab for them — just like the individual tabs for Reels and tagged photos — rather than keeping them as circles at the top of your profile.
And Instagram’s profile grids now display all posts as rectangles with a 4:5 ratio rather than squares.
The Meta-owned company is now offering creators large cash bonuses to exclusively post Reels on Instagram. The offers reportedly range from $10,000 to $50,000 per month.