Instagram May Spin Off Reels As a Standalone App, Report Says

Instagram may be considering spinning off its Reels feature into a standalone app. The company's head, Adam Mosseri, was reportedly overheard discussing the idea with employees as part of a broader strategy to better compete with TikTok, according to The Information. The report said the move is part of parent company Meta's internal initiative called Project Ray aimed at taking on the wildly popular TikTok. Project Ray also focuses on improving the algorithms behind content recommendations and enhancing support for longer Reels, the report said. The news follows Instagram's recent launch of Edits, a video editing app strikingly similar to TikTok owner ByteDance's CapCut platform. Instagram has also reportedly attempted to lure TikTok creators to its platform with cash bonuses of between $10,000 and $50,000. TikTok's legal status in the US remains up in the air following the enactment of a law banning it if certain conditions were not met by mid-January. The Trump administration is ... Read full article.