India banned Tik Tok, and many other countries such as America, Brazil, Germany and France are considering its ban very soon. Employees are worried, users are depressed, and investors have shown their grave concern. People are looking at an alternative for Tik-Tok, and many of them have lost their hopes.
But in today’s competitive world, nothing will stop.
A tech giant, Facebook recently filled the emptiness of Tik-Tok users by launching Instagram Reels.
Instagram Reels is exactly like Tik-Tok, where it allows its user to create a short video up to 15 seconds. You can edit with speed, music and creative filters with popular songs, challenges or the current trends. Vishal Shah, VP of Product, Facebook has confirmed, it has similar functionality to the banned Tik-Tok application.
All these features are available in Instagram’s catalogue where you can share your videos/Reels on your feed and beyond the platform. As of now, there is no monetization method on Instagram Reels.
Instagram Reels launch in the USA, Germany, Brazil, France and other countries:
No matter how many days or months countries like the USA, Brazil, Germany, France and more will ban Tik-Tok. But Instagram is all set to give fierce competition by launching Instagram Reels in other countries as well.
Instagram officially confirmed that with the well designed new short form of video features Instagram Reels will be in the US market by the end of August 2020. Instagram Reels has also been tested in Brazil, France and Germany.
Their spokesperson has said, “They have a successful testing and the large set of audience and their community have shown deep interests and are eager to make a short form of creative videos. So, yeah, we are excited as well to launch Instagram Reels very soon”.
What Is Instagram Reels?
- In the Instagram Camera, The Reels option is available at the same place as the Boomerang, rewind the video, slo-mo, and more.
- Users will go to Instagram cameras, and by selecting the Reels, you can start creating your 15 seconds videos. Just like Tik-Tok, Reels has the option to use audio from Instagram Music library. You can manage speed, effects, timer and filters.
- After shooting your video, you can choose your audience to whom you want to share. You can also share Instagram Reels in the Explore section where anyone is allowed to watch it.
- As Facebook is the world’s most technically advanced company, and hence the new interface brings in a new level of expansiveness and features of adding more media to videos.
- Instagram Reels have the features of several AR effects that allows users to add a custom touch to their videos. To put AR effects in your videos, you can open Reels camera and go to effects and then AR effects.
- You can also record multiple 15 seconds Reels. It also has the feature to record at once where you can add the different effects to each clip post the shoot. Any Reels can be reviewed, deleted, and re-recorded.
- Instagram Reels also has a “Use Audio” option that allows others to use your original audio to create their Reels.
Why has Tik-Tok become a severe threat to the privacy and the Nation security of a nation?
Chinese apps had a massive impact in the Indian market like Shareit, CamScanner, Vigo, Tik-Tok, along with other 55 apps like this. The issue was highlighted even more when there were privacy and national security threats by these Chinese apps.
In India, more than 120 million people were using Tik-Tok. If any country is having data of 120 million+ people, then it is a significant threat for that country.
Tik-Tok was doing the same thing. Tik-Tok was stealing the data from users mobile such as
1) information about hardware devices such as screen size, resolution, processor, CPU core etc.;
2) information about users location (in Tik-Tok app they can automatically track users location without their permission) along with much other information.
That’s why the Indian government has taken this step to ban Chinese app- Tik-Tok. The move is in the interest of national security and to protect the defence, sovereignty and integrity of India.
Tik-Tok was not using the secured server. They use HTTP instead of HTTPS.
And this is not the first time; the question has been raised regarding the security breach.
In October 2019, they announced clarification to the United States by saying, “We are not influenced neither by any foreign government, not any Chinese government. TikTok is not operational in China, and we do not have any intention to do so in future as well”.
In China, they have an alternative to Tik Tok called Douyin made by the same company – ByteDance.
After being banned in India, Tik-Tok again clarified to the Indian government by saying, “they would never share any information with the Chinese government about any users”.
But this is not possible!
Why?
Because, as per the Chinese Intelligence Law 2017, Article 14 and Article 16 can overrule any policy of any Chinese company.
According to Article 14:
As long as national intelligence institutions are operating within their proper authorities, in turn, grants intelligence agencies authority to insist on this support; “state intelligence work organs, when legally carrying forth intelligence work, may demand that concerned organs, organization or citizens provide needed support, assistance and cooperation.
That means if the Chinese intelligence agencies request for anything from the company, then they would have to comply with that request.
According to Article 16:
Intelligence officials “may enter relevant restricted areas and venues; may learn from the question relevant institutions, organizations, and individuals and may read or collect relevant files, materials or items.
Article 16 authorizes security officials to make inquiries (xunwen; 询问) of any individuals as part of their intelligence-gathering and to examine their reference materials and files. These officials can also commandeer the communication equipment, transportation, building, and other facilities of individuals as well as organizations and government organs.
That means they can take any data from any company that they wish.
Because of these laws, Australia and the USA did not allow the 5g technology of Huawei to operate within its country.
How to Create Instagram Reels: A Step by Step Simple Guide
- Go to Instagram and Tap the camera icon from the top-left of the screen.
2. At the bottom, you can see options like Live, Story, and Reels. Tap on Reels.
3. Then go to Audio option and select a song from the Instagram Music Library.
4. Here you go. You can start creating Reels on Instagram. You can create videos with a maximum length of 15 seconds. Let’s walk through all the other options.
5. By tapping the big white circle icon, you can record Instagram Reels. The same button will let you stop the recording.
6. You can adjust video recording speed from the right arrow icon, that looks like the play button. Before you start recording, add a few effects via icons on the left side. You have access to record your videos in slow motion at up to 0.3x and speed them up to 3x.
7. To add effects to your videos, tap the smiley button and swipe right on the big white circle. It shows you all the available effects, where you can pick as per your preference. The effect icon shows up inside the big white circle, and you can tap it to start recording.
8. You can set a 3-second timer in Reels. Tap the timer icon on the left and set the duration for your clip (0.1 to 15 seconds) and tap Set Timer. Once you start recording, you will see a three-second timer on screen before the video begins.
9. You can use original audio by simply recording a Reel using the audio.
10. Lastly, by tapping the music icon on the left, you can also add music to it. The best part here is, you can see the lyrics on-screen and choose any part of the song that you want to use. TikTok has the feature of a specific 30-second clip for each song. But on Instagram Reels, you can pick your favourite parts of any track. You can add music before recording a video to create lip-sync videos, or you can add it after recording to give it a cool soundtrack.
11. Add AR Effect which will make your Reel exciting and set the timer as well to record any of your clips hands-free.
12. You will also get the feature to speed up and slow down video or audio.
And now, you are ready to create your own exciting, engaging and fantastic video (Reel).
How to Save Instagram Reels?
- Open the Instagram application on your device.
- Click on the search icon and select the Instagram Reels video that you’d like to download.
- (Alternative step) Visit a User’s profile and click on the Reels tab, located near the IGTV tab.
- Select the Reels video that you wish to download and open it.
- After the video has been loaded, tap the three-dots icon.
- Click on Save.
- To access the Reels video in your Instagram app, open your home screen and click on your profile icon.
- Click on the hamburger icon situated at the top right and then tap Settings.
- Go to the Account Tab and then click on Saved.
You can find the saved videos by opening the All Posts folder to see the downloaded Instagram Reels.
How to Download Instagram Reels on a Mobile Device?
There are two ways to download Instagram reels in your mobile device: One, by using screen recording inbuilt features on both androids as well as iOS device and Another, by using a 3rd Party App. We will guide you step-by-step to download Instagram reels for both the methods. Let’s go with it!
Download Instagram Reels via screen recorder:
This feature works on both Android as well as iOS devices as it is a built-in screen recorder app in every device. All you need to do is just open the Instagram app and go to that Reels you wish to download. While the video is playing, you need to start the screen recorder, and thus, the video will be recorded.
To know Step-by-Step how to use screen recorder in your device, follow the below-mentioned points:
For iPhone
- Make sure screen recording is added to the Control Centre.
- Go to Settings > Control Centre > Customize Controls and add Screen recording.
- On Instagram, open the Reels video that you’d like to download.
- Now swipe upwards from the bottom of the screen to reveal the Control Centre.
- Tap Start Recording to start recording the video, go to Instagram and play the video.
- Once done, stop the screen recording by tapping the red bar at the top > Stop.
- Now, The video will automatically be saved in the Photos app.
For Android
You can either use the built-in screen recorder (if your phone has it) or a third-party app for screen recording.
- If your phone has a built-in screen recorder, then simply open the Instagram app and then go to the reels video you wish to download. Now, swipe down from the up of the screen to and open the ladder. Here, tap the Screen Recording icon to start recording the video and play the video. Once done, tap the red dot beside the timer to stop the screen recorder.
- If your phone does not have a screen recorder, then go to Google Play and install the Mobizen Screen Recorder. Once installed, open the app and set it up. After that, simply go back to Instagram, play the video that you wish to download. Now, hit the floating screen recorder icon and tap the camera button to start the screen recording. Once done, tap the stop button to stop the recording.
Your video in either way will automatically be saved in your phone’s gallery.
How to Download Instagram Reels in Android Device using 3rd Party App?
- Go to the Google Play Store and download the Video Downloader for Instagram.
- After you install the app, open it and set it up.
- Now, open the Instagram app and go to the reels you wish to download.
- Click on the icon with the three dots and then select the option which says, Copy Link.
- Now, again open the Video Downloader for the Instagram app.
- You will notice the URL that you just copied is automatically pasted on the screen.
- Access your phone’s gallery to find the Instagram Reels video.
- Once the video is saved on your device, you can edit it and share it with others via third-party apps.
Download Instagram Reels on iPhone (iOS Devices) using a 3rd Party App
- Go to the App Store and download InSaver for Instagram.
- After you install the app, open it and set it up.
- Now, open the Instagram app and select the reels video you wish to download.
- Click on the icon with the three dots and then select the option that says, Copy Link.
- Now, again open the InSaver for the Instagram app.
- You will notice the URL that you just copied is automatically pasted on the screen.
Finally, Tap on Watch it and then tap Options > Share > Save Video to save the short video to the Photos app.
Highlights:
- Like Tik-Tok, Instagram Reels also allows its users to create short videos from 0.1 to 15 seconds.
- Since Reels has more features than Tik-Tok, hence users can edit Reels by choosing from a range filter, sounds with AR effects.
- If you have a public account on Instagram, your Reels will be available on the Explore section of Instagram.
- Instagram has a robust ecosystem of 88 million+ users in India only. That means the Indian market holds a massive opportunity for Instagram.
- With the ban of TikTok (which had 120 million+ users in India only), Instagram Reels can skyrocket its business for short video-making application technology.
- Undoubtedly, Instagram Reels has more feature, technically advanced backup with 100% assurance of safety and security than Tik-Tok.
Superb explaination, Sugandha Ma’am……
Thanks, Ankit!