TikTok is already an Instagram competitor when it comes to videos. However, while TikTok is a video-first social network, Instagram still lets users post photos in their feed and share 24-hour Stories. However, it seems that TikTok has been working on a new app to also compete with Instagram’s photo feed.
TikTok working on a new Photos app
As reported by TheSpAndroid (via Matt Navarra), code found in the latest version of the TikTok app includes multiple references to a new “TikTok Photos” app. Based on the strings seen by the website, this new app seems to be very similar to Instagram, with a feed where users can share photos with their friends and family.
The strings found by TheSpAndroid invite users to try out the new TikTok Photos app. It also suggests that users will be able to share content from the main TikTok app to the Photos app. Another string describes the app as a place to reach “other like-minded people who enjoy photo posts.”
There are no details on when and where TikTok Photos will be released, but everything suggests that an official announcement should happen very soon. This comes after multiple creators complained about Instagram focusing more on video and losing its main essence, which is to be a place to share photos.
If true, TikTok could benefit from its strong presence in the short video segment to launch its new photo app.
Potential TikTok ban in the US
At the same time, TikTok Photos could come at a bad time for ByteDance, the company that owns the platform. That’s because the United States House of Representatives will vote this week on a bill that could ban TikTok from the US. In a statement to the press last Friday, President Joe Biden said that if Congress passes the bill, he will sign it.
In response to Biden’s statement, TikTok claims that the US government is “attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression” by trying to ban the platform in the country. The government accuses ByteDance, a Chinese company, of using TikTok to share user data from all over the world with the Chinese government.
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