TikTok's Instagram competitor likely to be named TikTok Notes

TikTok’s upcoming Instagram competitor app for sharing photos could be named TikTok Notes, according to screenshots posted by users. TikTok also confirmed the app was in development.

Over the last few days, TikTok users have been getting pop-up notifications about a new TikTok Notes app to share photos.

The notification says that the company is soon launching “a new app for photo posts” called TikTok Notes and users’ existing photo posts will be shared on the app. Users can choose to not share their image posts to the new app too.

Looks like TikTok is launching a new app for photo posts called 'TikTok Notes'. pic.twitter.com/xTbgcGxJno

— Alex Friedman 🤠 (@heyalexfriedman) April 8, 2024

TikTok confirmed that it is working on the app but specified that it is not available yet.

“As part of our continued commitment to innovating the TikTok experience, we’re exploring ways to empower our community to create and share their creativity with photos and text in a dedicated space for those formats,” a TikTok spokesperson told TechCrunch.

Separately, a TikTok-owned URL — photo.tiktok.com (internet archive link) — shows a placeholder marketing image with the text “Opening in TikTok Notes.”

Last month, code and language found in the TikTok APK file — an installable file format for Android — suggested that the company has been working to launch a photo-sharing app called TikTok Photos.

However, the latest pop-ups within TikTok suggest that the company might be considering another name for the app.

Both TikTok and Meta are fiercely competing over social media space. While the ByteDance-owned app is prepping to launch an app related to photo-sharing, Meta rolled out a vertical-first video player for Facebook.

TikTok is also experimenting with different formats like 30-minute videos and even text posts like X and Threads.