Instagram’s Newest Tactic to Entice TikTokkers Is a Video Editing App
Despite all the changes Meta has announced in the past month, the company seems to be returning to its roots in at least this one way: announcing an all-too-familiar sounding new feature. Or in this case, a new app. On Monday, head of Instagram Adam Mosseri announced that the company has been developing a new video editing app called Edits that will be help creators brainstorm and edit videos.
Despite Mosseri’s claim that Edits will be “more than a video editing app,” that is its primary purpose, and it should include standard editing tools. The Edits app will also include a higher quality camera (compared with the Instagram camera, ostensibly), the ability to share drafts with friends, and if you decide to post the edited videos on Instagram, Edits can track how the Reels performs, similar to Instagram’s insights.
Mosseri also said that the app is meant for people who shoot and edit videos on their phones, not for folks who use desktop apps. This could mean that Edits will be a more beginner-friendly editing program, though we’ll have to wait to see how the app shapes up before we know for sure. You can preorder the app now, set to be released in the Apple app store on March 13, with an Android app coming soon.
From what we know now, Edits sounds awfully similar to CapCut, the video editing app made popular by TikTok. Since CapCut is owned by the same parent company as TikTok, it has been facing the same legal challenges under the US’s divest-or-ban law. When Trump was sworn in as the US’s 47th president on Monday, one of his first acts was to sign an executive order giving TikTok a 75-day stay. The order gives the new administration time to review the potential national security threats the app poses, but the action could face legal challenges. CapCut and TikTok are both active as of this time.
There are a slew of other changes in store for Instagram and its creators this year. Earlier this month, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta will be ending its years-long fact-checking program, as well as loosening rules in its hateful conduct policy that moderate the kind of speech allowed on Meta’s platforms. LGBTQ and digital advocacy groups have expressed serious concerns about how the changes will affect the safety and environment on the platforms.
For more, check out these other new Instagram features and what to know about Instagram teen accounts.