Even as ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, faces a possible ban in the US, the Chinese video-sharing giant is set to introduce a new standalone photo-sharing app – TikTok Photos – to challenge Instagram.
This was made known by well-known app investigator AssembleDebug through an APK teardown which revealed text concealed within the code of the recent version of the Android app from the Chinese video-sharing giant disclosing intentions for a brand-new application named “TikTok Photos.”
“An APK teardown assists in anticipating potential features that might be introduced to a service in the future, relying on the examination of code that is still under development. It’s important to note that while these forecasted features are identified through this process, there is a possibility that they may not be included in a subsequent public release.“
As per the uncovered text, the imminent launch of the TikTok Photos platform is anticipated, and users will have the ability to synchronize photo posts seamlessly between the standard TikTok app and this new service. Additionally, it suggests that TikTok users will receive automatic prompts, encouraging them to share their photo posts through a pop-up message within the TikTok app.
The whole text string reads as follows:
- “TikTok Photos will be launched soon, we hope to help you gain new audiences in the new app. If the switch is on, we’ll sync your public photos to the new app, whether you close the pop-up or not.”
He also revealed the icon of the new TikTok Photos app which have the same colour scheme as original TikTok app icon. This is shown below.
Apart from the indication of an imminent launch, there is no specific timeframe available for the introduction of the upcoming TikTok Photos service. However, Instagram should brace itself for intense competition ahead.
