TikTok Testing New “Notes” Photo App To Rival Instagram
I don’t know about you, but keeping up with new apps has become a part-time job. This is especially true if you consider yourself to be a content creator. You may have seen on your TikTok “For You” page that the platform is planning to release a new photo-sharing app that could take on Instagram. I didn’t personally receive it, but some users received a notification from TikTok that says it’s launching “a new app for photo posts” called TikTok Notes, as reported by TechCrunch.
Chat And Murmur About Notes
Forbes reported that TikTok is already testing the new Instagram rival. They said that when trying to share photo posts to the app, some users have reported a pop-up notification informing them photos will also be posted on a platform “coming soon” called TikTok Notes, with an option to opt-out of the cross-platform sharing.
A site called notes.tiktok.com is currently live online with a nonfunctioning “open app” button that teases posts featuring a still photo and caption, much like the posts that Instagram features.
BBC reported that the platform is working on a “dedicated space” for photos and text but has not finalized the design of the Notes app or confirmed a release date.
TechCrunch also reported that TikTok is looking to support text posts similar to X, formerly known as Twitter, and Meta-owned Threads. They’re also looking into experimenting with 30-minute-long videos, similar to YouTube.
Photos Get You Traction on TikTok
Some users speculate that TikTok is currently favoring photo carousels in the algorithm. LinkedIn reported that the platform wants us to pivot to photos. They said TikTok is encouraging people to post photo carousels versus video, promising to “help you reach even more people.” They added, “According to TikTok, photo posts can get 2.9x more comments, 1.9x more likes, 2.6x more shares on average than videos.”
User Reactions
I’m excited to see what it may look like. Lately, it seems like many platforms are going back to the basics with simple, organic, and engaging posts. But I will admit that another app taking up storage on my phone and trying to keep up with yet another app presents its own challenges.
Some people took to Reddit to share their thoughts about Notes. “We need a new OG Instagram so I’m down for this!” one person said. Instagram went through some major changes after being bought by Facebook’s parent company Meta in 2012. “I wonder what effect this will have in the photo sharing trends on tik tok,” another person wrote. Now, I’m curious if the algorithms on Notes will work the same as TikTok’s current setup. But I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
