- TikTok has launched a standalone photo-sharing app called TikTok Notes to rival Instagram.
- The app shares a layout similar to Pinterest and includes For You and the Following sections like the TikTok app.
- The app is only available for download in Canada and Australia. Users can sign in with their existing TikTok accounts.
The much-rumored photo-sharing app from TikTok is finally here and it is called TikTok Notes. Similarly to Instagram, this is a separate app that mainly focuses on sharing photos and texts.
TikTok announced the release of its new Notes app in an official post on their X (formerly Twitter) account. The post mentions that the app has been released in a limited capacity to get initial user feedback. It is currently only available for download in two regions, that is Canada and Australia.
Users residing in these two regions can download the app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. Users will have to use an existing TikTok account to sign into the TikTok Notes app. Currently, there are no details on the U.S. release of the app, but it will likely be rolled out to other regions soon depending on the initial feedback.
What Is TikTok Notes and How Does it Work?
Talking about the app, TikTok Notes has a vertical scrolling feed of pictures with captions below it, akin to Instagram. The feed is split into two columns and images appear in different sizes. It looks oddly similar to Pinterest’s feed, as you can see in the image below. This is quite different from what we expected as it shares little in common with Instagram’s UI, which was speculated earlier.
There are also the For You and Following sections similar to TikTok. You can also add headings to your posts, which were inspired by Reddit I suppose. Besides that, there are other features like an image carousel and the ability to control comments.
The layout of TikTok Notes does play to its benefit, though, helping it stand out when compared to Instagram. Plus, it makes it easy for users to glance at more posts at once but it does take away some of the user attention that Instagram’s one-post-at-the-time layout offers.
The choice of going with a completely separate app for photo sharing still does not sit right with me, but it all boils down to how users respond to the app’s ongoing test. If you’ve had a chance to try out the app, what do you think about TikTok Notes? Would you want to try it out? Share your opinions with us in the comments below.
