Popular TikTok app alternatives are doing their best to capitalize on the chaos surrounding the short-form video app’s ban. While the competitive spirit is great to see, some of the changes have not left users thrilled. Instagram recently announced new TikTok-like features arriving on its own platform in the hopes of encouraging its Reels format to be the preferred go-to for users, many of whom had begun facing withdrawal symptoms in the wake of the ban.

Now that we are past the ban deadline, we can comfortably say that the TikTok blackout was short-lived. However, there is no certainty about the app’s future and whether it will be able to negotiate a deal that will allow it to return to the U.S. permanently. As users and creators work to find their footing on other apps that have a more stable future, a few popular social media apps like Instagram and Twitch are experimenting with features that may enhance their appeal.

_Instagram Edits app

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Instagram is Exploring TikTok Features to Take Advantage of the Situation

One of the biggest and most unpleasant changes to Instagram recently rolled out was the change of the profile grid layout, which shifted away from the iconic square images to the rectangular display. For years now, users have optimized the square grid to their advantage, editing images to make the most of the layout, but the change has altered their profile to a more unpleasant format. 

The rectangular display format of the images on the grid is more similar to that of the profile layout on TikTok, but it’s unclear why Instagram would choose to emulate this feature out of all the other changes they could make to the platform. Instagram is well-known for experimenting with user interface changes that no one asked for, and this update appears to be no different.

Instagram Reels Now Have Permission to be Slightly Longer

Instagram Reels is also getting a TikTok update, with the maximum length of Reels set for expansion. Users will now be able to create reels that are three minutes long, freed from the 90-second restrictions that they faced previously. This gives creators more freedom to generate slightly longer content for their audience, bringing them closer to the liberties they were able to take with TikTok. 

Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, took to the app to explain, “We’ve historically only allowed reels up to 90 seconds given our focus on short-form video, but we’ve heard the feedback that this is just too short for those who want to share longer stories.” This new freedom will make it easier for content creators to make longer videos, but it will also encourage users to stay on the app longer, which is likely the ultimate goal.

Instagram Reels Feed Update: Small Creators to Get a Shot at Fame

One of the primary reasons for TikTok’s success was the app’s algorithm, which showed users content that matched their interests while also boosting small creators and their access to fame. Instagram’s emulation of the top TikTok features also includes an update to its algorithm and its ability to showcase smaller creators who have not yet received the kind of exposure they need to grow their accounts. 

The platform is expected to become more accurate in recommending content to users, and the more engagement content receives, the more it will be recommended to a larger batch of users. Mosseri floated the idea of trial reels and how creators will be able to use them as a litmus test of how content will perform before they decide to “graduate it to a full-blown reel.”

Connecting Over Creativity Through the Reels Tab

Not all of Instagram’s changes are being motivated purely by a desire to emulate TikTok. Instagram is looking into new ways to connect and share with your community on the app, so if the broadcast channel notifications and appeals to join Threads weren’t enough, you might soon see even more ways to be hounded by Instagram even as you try to use the app passively.

In the Reels tab, users should soon be able to see a collection of Reels that were already liked by friends, with insight into who liked that content. This feature takes us one step backward to the old days of the activity tab, where you could see everything your friends were up to on the app. We do not miss those days.

Instagram already allows you to see your friends’ names floating at the bottom corner of a video to alert you to who has watched it already, but this new feature should allow users to start a conversation with friends who have liked the content already.

Instagram’s New Short Video Tools Include a New Editing App

While the news surrounding the TikTok ban has placed heavy emphasis solely on one app, the restrictions were primarily on the parent company ByteDance. As a result, other apps from the company such as CapCut, Lemon8, Marvel Snap, TikTok Studio, TikTok Shop Seller, and TikTok Lite were also disabled in the U.S. at the same time. 

CapCut was a much-loved app for users who wanted to create content for TikTok, and to take advantage of its absence, Meta announced its new video creation app, Edits. “There is a lot going on in the world right now and no matter what happens, we think it’s our job to create the most compelling creative tools for those of you who make videos for not just Instagram but platforms out there,” Mosseri explained in a separate post.

With a full suite of creative tools on offer, the Edits app will provide a higher-quality camera as well as other drafting and ideation tools to create a record of the different projects that users choose to work on. Users who share the videos on Instagram are also promised additional insights on the performance of these videos, but we aren’t yet aware of what those insights will include.

The app is available to preorder on the iOS app store and will be similarly available on Android soon. Users should gain access to the tool next month, so while CapCut may or may not return in that time, creators still have the Instagram Edits app to look forward to. 

The upcoming Instagram changes will have their pros and cons, but while we wait to see how users take to them, one thing is certain—users will continue to refuse to let the loss of the square grid layout slide.

tagged in Instagram changes, Instagram Edits app, Instagram new short video tools, Instagram Reels feed update, Instagram TikTok features
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