Instagram is launching its TikTok rival Reels, adding the ability to create and discover short videos to the main Instagram app.
The company had tested the features in a small number of countries but is now launching them more widely.
With Reels, people can make 15-second videos using editing tools and AR effects created both by Instagram and creators all over the world.
It also features music and video editing tools, such as original audio, countdown and a new align tool, which gives people a way to line up different takes when creating Reels.
All of those features are most famously used in TikTok, which has risen up to be a competitor to Instagram in recent times.
Just as with TikTok, those videos can also feature on a devoted Explore page, and anything that does will receive a “Features” label. Instagram staff will choose those videos, and users will get a notification if they are selected to appear on that page.
Reels is launching in over 50 countries, including the US, India, Brazil, France, Germany, UK, Japan, Australia and many others.
A new update will bring the short-form video feature to the app, with a new section that users can click onto. It will sit alongside other ways of posting Instagram content, such as stories, live videos and IGTC.
Within Instagram, the reels will function as a kind of content that can be shared anywhere: they can be sent privately to friends in a direct message, or shared straight onto the feed. Instagram suggested that feature was one that made it distinct from TikTok.
