After the Indian government banned TikTok, a number of homegrown video apps have surfaced which include Mitron, Chingari, Roposo, and more. There is a sudden surge to fill the void caused by TikTok’s unexpected ban in the country. The latest alternative to TikTok is Instagram Reels which got recently launched in India. Reels has a similar short-video format and it’s integrated within the Instagram app. You just need to move to the search window and you will be presented with Reels content. So to check whether Reels has the promise to replace TikTok, we have come up with this in-depth analysis. In this comparison between Instagram Reels vs TikTok, we take a look at all the major features, privacy issues, content reachability, and more. So without further ado, let’s begin.
Unlike TikTok which is available across the globe, Instagram Reels is currently available only in four regions: Brazil, Germany, France, and India. Here, we have primarily discussed the topics in the context of India because of the recent TikTok ban in the country. With that out of the way, let’s go through the article.
Features
Before anything, we need to discuss the features of Instagram Reels and see if it’s comparable to TikTok. First off, the UI on Instagram Reels is pretty similar to TikTok. You can swipe up and down to quickly move from one video to another. Further, you can create videos of up to 15 seconds on Reels in comparison to TikTok’s two options: 15 and 60 seconds. By the way, the majority of videos on TikTok have a length of 15 seconds so that is smart on Reels’ part to just keep the shorter video format.
TikTok was wildly popular for its soundtracks and Instagram Reels also follows the same path. In fact, you can add a particular part of music using lyrics and it works pretty well. Basically, you will be able to create great lip-syncing videos on Reels. Not to mention, just like TikTok, you can also add a 3-sec timer before recording a clip on Instagram Reels.
While Instagram Reels has done a good job of bringing the basic features, but there are some major omissions for which TikTok was quite popular. For instance, you don’t have the widely used Duet feature on Reels. Neither, do you have the React feature.
Apart from that, there is no dedicated search or discover page on Reels. For many new creators on TikTok, the Discover page used to help them find new challenges and trending hashtags.
Privacy
Since Reels is integrated with Instagram, there is a foundational difference in how the app works as compared to TikTok. If you create a new account on TikTok, your account is set to public, by default. However, on Instagram, all accounts are set to private by default which by extension applies to Reels too.
Democratization of Content
We all know that TikTok brought a cultural shift, at least in India, and spearheaded a content revolution that started from rural towns to urban cities. TikTok made its app available in more than 14 Indian languages including Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, and more.
Instagram Reels vs TikTok: The Showdown
In this comparison between Instagram Reels vs TikTok, we went through some common features, privacy issues, the missing features and discussed the reach of content. It’s clear that Reels has got the basics right to begin the journey in India, but lacks some major features which were very popular on TikTok.
