Meta-owned Instagram is now testing the user-created Templates feature that will enable Reels creators to use the same format as other videos. Moreover, the user-created Templates feature is currently only available to a small group of creators and is in beta testing. It’s similar to TikTok’s Templates, which enables users to plug in their own photos into a preset format.
Instagram is Working to Make Reels Simpler to Create
“We are always working on new ways to make Reels simpler to create. We are testing the ability for you to make a reel using an existing Template from another reel,” stated a Meta spokesperson about the new user-created Templates feature. Developer Alessandro Paluzzi saw an iteration of the user-created Templates feature in reverse-engineered versions of the app’s code in January, and influencer Josephine Hill tweeted about the feature in March.
“One thing that I’ve been looking for, particularly with Instagram Reels, was something that resembles TikTok’s audio sync where the clips line up perfectly to the beat of the music,” stated Hill. She further added that previously she would turn to tutorials for help in editing videos, especially when it came to lining up videos with sound, and that the slots for adding in your own clips vary for each template.
The New User-Created Templates Feature Can Help Even Out the Competition
As other companies — including Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat — try to compete with TikTok using their own version of short-form video apps, it’s hard to contest TikTok’s popularity. Creators often opt to upload TikToks to Reels, rather than create content on Instagram, but the new user-created Templates feature may be a way to change that or at least to even out the competition. Reels has introduced features similar to TikTok’s in the past, like Remixes, which launched last year. Earlier this year, TikTok expanded the feature so that users could remix any publicly uploaded video, not just Reels.
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