We all know on an international level, India is quite a big market or new technical services or apps. & recently, Due to security & privacy issues, India and has banned quite a couple of apps including a popular short video app, TikTok. This resulted in working on homegrown apps that can be used to fill in the gap because of the sudden ban.
At the same time, this banning pattern has opened many doors for other countries & companies that offer the same concept services. For example, after TikTok had been banned, Instagram Reels has been launched with the same concept & more. Creating short videos with different filters was the base of TikTok & the same way, Instagram Reels is going to work for you.
There is no doubt that Instagram Reels is already integrated with the Instagram app. So all you need to do is, just go to the Search window & you will start getting Reels content. & since both the apps (Instagram Reels & TikTok) have been created with the same concept, the comparison would be there. So let’s look at the major features including privacy & security to check which of these a better platform for making short videos is.
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The Analysis Instagram Reels & TikTok Features
Obviously TikTok is a bit older as compared to Instagram Reels but to be true, whatever security or privacy scandals TikTok went through, the app went down drastically. Not to forget that where TikTok is available in almost every part of the world, Instagram Reels has geographical limitations and is only available in Brazil, India, Germany, & France. Not that this thing should matter while doing a comprehensive analysis of these apps because one of those just kicked in. Let’s analyze Instagram Reels & TikTok on the basis of privacy walls & reliability as below:
Features
In order to compare two different apps or services or platforms, the very first thing you look at is features. Do both the apps offer the same kind of features to the users or is there any discrepancy?
The very first we all get our visuals on is the user interface as if it looks cool & easy to navigate, we go for it. If you talk about Instagram Reels, the user interface is quite similar to how TikTok looks. Because what more you can change in an app that majorly works on creating short video clips.
Additionally, the maximum video length for you can be 15 seconds & I believe that’s why it’s been called a short video making app. This length factor is a bit down as compared to TikTok as TikTok had two video length categories: 15 seconds & 60 seconds. & if you check the surveys, you will find that maximum videos on TikTok have the video length as long as 15 seconds.
& obviously, the other features you gradually found on TIkTok (tech advancements & upgrades) such as AR effects is also available on Instagram Reels. Features that Instagram Reels borrowed from TikTok also include the slow & increased motion while creating videos. Moreover, Instagram Reels or Reels welcomes you with unlimited in-app music to keep you tuned.
So, in case you are wondering about using Instagram Reels & thinking about TikTok as well, you will be using almost the same features with the same UI. However, there are a few things that maybe missing from TikTok & those are mentioned below:
TikTok’s Missing Features in Instagram Reels
Though Instagram Reel is trying its best to copy almost every feature TikTok has, however, there are a few features Reel lacks. One of those most popular one that you will definitely miss is the Duet feature as well as the React feature.
And if you have used both of these features on TikTok then you’d know how helpful & amazing those features are. Many times, users opt for these features in order to start conversations with other TikTok users. So, Instagram Reels can or may disappoint you here & that too on the basis of how intensively you use TikTok platform.
There are other features like the Discover or searching page where you can look for new things to explore & Instagram Reels doesn’t have the option. One of the possible reasons can be that the Instagram Reel feature has been integrated with the Instagram app. Because of that, the whole exploration of the app has become limited resulting in not providing all the features TikTok has as an individual app.
Instagram Reel does fill in for the basics however when it comes to using TikTok’s advanced features, it lacks as a whole.
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Privacy & Security
Though TikTok had become one of the most popular & used apps in the world, the users drastically decreased when the security breach took place. The perfect platform for entertainment & engagement had become a question mark for many users because they stopped believing in the app.
Many of us know that whenever you create an account on TikTok, your profile becomes Public by default, however, with Instagram Reel, the deal is different. Reel works on the same functionalities as Instagram does so if you know whenever you open an account on Instagram, the account is private as default.
The same goes for Reel so if you talk about privacy, all the Reel content of your profile would be private. & the best thing is that even if you want to make it public, you won’t be able to.
In order to make Reels public, you will have to make your Instagram app profile public, that you shouldn’t do, we advise.
Instagram is owned by Facebook Inc. & we all know how many privacy scandals the company has experienced in the past. So maybe we shouldn’t allow the company to take care of our accounts as we ourselves must tighten the privacy settings of our accounts.
Adaptability to Different Users
Not to talk about every part of the world, however if you talk about India, TikTok came in with adaptability to reach more & more people. TikTok went beyond imagination & released the app in almost 14 Indian languages & that just boosted the number of users in India.
Additionally, the company has spent a good fortune on almost every category or possible way to engage the users in various activities. Whenever a new user signs up, he/she won’t have to go anywhere else, TikTok took care of that from interacting with new people to following famous artists.
& if you compare Instagram Reel with TikTok for adaptability, the application has been released in Hindi only (as long as we are talking about India).
Instagram Reels or TikTok – Which Short Video App is Better?
After we went through the above category-wise comprehensive analysis of TikTok & Instagram Reels, the result may vary depending on many factors.
If you talk about features & user engagement, TikTok is far ahead from Reels because Reels lacks many features, users are used to.
Secondly, if you talk about the individual platform, Reels is an in-app feature that limits its whole exploration. Wherein, TikTok is an individual app & working amazingly well in keeping the users entertained.
One of the most important & deciding factors is, Privacy that brought down TikTok drastically & eventually got banned from countries like India. Even though the company took actions & precautions against the incident, affected users stopped believing in the app. However, since your Instagram profile is private (as default), Reels content will also be private for you. Having said that, we all know how Facebook is going parallel with data scandals in the recent years.
Not that every company guarantees you to keep your data safe; you yourself need to take care of your profile & data.
So, in my opinion, only if Instagram Reels was an individual app, it would have given a good fight to TikTok on many levels.
Instagram Reels is perfect for the users who use it to watch & create short video clips as well as spend some time. However, if you are looking for something more, TikTok is the platform you are looking for.
Wrapping Up
Comparing two different apps have always explored more than the users, however, it’s been advised that users use the app & then decide. With TikTok & Instagram Reels, the deal is a bit different. The possibility can be that Facebook saw the opportunity (India banning TikTok) & thought of giving a temporary solution for TikTok users. It may keep the users on the Instagram platform as well as increase in the number of users eventually.
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Lucy Taylor
Really excited for this Instagram reels features. Thanks you for such a amazing write up.