Instagram May Be Exploring a Separate Reels App

Would Instagram Reels work in a separate app?

That’s apparently what Instagram is currently weighing, according to a new report from The Information, which suggests that Instagram chief Adam Mosseri recently floated the concept of a separate Reels app to IG staff.

As per The Information:

“Instagram is considering launching a stand-alone app for its short-form–video feature, Reels, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri told staff this week, according to a person who heard the remarks.”

A standalone Reels app would be a more direct replica of TikTok, opening to a full-screen, scrolling display of short-form videos. And with Reels recently being extended to 3 minutes, there could be a variety of content, enough to potentially justify a separate Reels app.

And those longer Reels are a key consideration in this new approach:

“Instagram’s efforts to take on TikTok are part of an initiative code-named ‘Project Ray’, which includes improving recommendations for new users and people in the U.S. as well as distributing more three-minute-long videos, according to the person.”

More content in a dedicated Reels feed, which could keep users engaged for longer, potentially in their own app. It’s an interesting concept, though that would also be a significant step in taking away from Instagram itself.

Reels, across both Facebook and IG, are Meta’s fastest-growing content type, and are now driving over 200 billion cumulative views per day. Reels have been boosted by Meta’s shift to AI-recommended content, with more than 50% of the posts that you see in your IG feed now being funneled to you by Meta’s AI system, not from profiles that you’ve selected.

Reels also now drive more engagement than posts, as Mosseri himself has noted:

“People are sharing to feeds less, but to stories more and (even photos and videos) in messages even more still.”

As such, taking Reels out of IG, or giving people an alternative, Reels-only app, could be a devastating blow for Instagram, which is likely too much of a risk for Meta to actually undertake.

I mean, it does make sense, and as The Information notes, that would be in line with Meta’s push to tackle TikTok head on, as it continues to battle its own expulsion from the U.S.

But I can’t see Meta giving up on Instagram like this, or even taking the risk of such by creating a separate Reels app.

I also don’t see how that would drive more engagement, as you’d just be cannibalizing Instagram’s audience. So you might end up with 700 million people using the new Reels app, but without Reels as a key focus in the main app, I can’t imagine people will keep opening both on a regular basis.

Maybe they will, and maybe, like Facebook, the view is that IG is now so embedded in our day-to-day connective process that people will keep opening the app anyway, even if they do end up spending more time in this new platform.

Still, it seems risky, and again, given the importance to Reels to IG, I don’t see why Meta would do it, unless it was looking to push this new app in markets where TikTok is either not available, or Instagram isn’t popular.

That would be quite a few regions, and that could be where Meta’s looking. But as a wholesale IG alternative, dedicated solely to Reels, it would be a risky bet.

We’ll find out soon, with Meta reportedly exploring the option internally.