Feb 11th 2021
Instagram vs. TikTok
TikTok as an app was released back in 2016 where as Instagram was released in 2010, and had its main boost back in 2012. So last year Instagram celebrated its 10 year anniversary! It would seem like that six year difference would show as major head start for Instagram but within that time, many current TikTok users were already using Vine and Musical.ly, from which the latter was released in 2014 and the former in 2013. When Vine officially closed its business in 2016 and Musical.ly changed to TikTok, the users wanted to keep on doing similar things as those apps provided and thus downloaded TikTok.
According to statistics from 2019, TikTok defeated Instagram in downloads with over 200 million downloads and that was only the beginning. In 2020, when the global pandemic hit, people turned to social media to stay in touch and most of all, to stay creative. People joined the TikTok community with major download numbers in the first quarter making TikTok the most downloaded app within one quarter ever with 315 million downloads. Both Instagram and TikTok however have approximately 1 billion users per month, which puts them pretty much on the same podium - at least for now.
Lately these two apps have been in the spotlight for sharing similarities which have split people’s opinions in half. Instagram released its Reels feature in August of 2020, which is pretty much identical to TikTok. This feature was a relief for many U.S. TikTok users, when former president Trump threatened to ban TikTok in the U.S. This was a mess, which never actually happened, and was partly due to TikTok being owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance. This Reels feature in Instagram would’ve kept TikTok users in the game and allow them to keep on what they were already doing. Regardless of how useful this would’ve been to TikTok users, it was a smart move from Instagram to steal users from TikTok - and some users surely did the switch. Reels works pretty much exactly the same way TikTok does; you can record 15 to 30 second videos and get very creative with it. In TikTok however, you can record up to 60 seconds. TikTok actually tried out a feature which allows users to upload up to 3 minute long videos, maybe having a goal to challenge YouTube, but the feature hasn’t been released to all the users yet at least. This would really change the direction of TikTok to more like YouTube, which would probably create more and more conversation on platforms getting too similar - which has been a discussion between Instagram and TikTok already.
To continue the discussion, there has been talk around Instagram releasing a new feature of ”vertical feed” on Instagram stories, which would be identical to TikTok - once again. This would be a clear step from Instagram in competing with TikTok and which could become a problem among users. This leads me to think, what is one day there will be one app, which will contain all the features of the current popular apps? Shall one day one app allow you to send pictures like Snapchat, share memories like Instagram and get creative like TikTok?
Related Stories
Why is Pinterest such a valuable tool
Almost 500 million people actively use Pinterest every mo... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
NEW: Review Groups
Our first of two significant June updates was released... Read More
Jesse Lempiäinen
Read More
Read More
The similarities of platforms: Creator Fund
In a few of my previous posts Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Masters Of ASO: Erik Hegely from Pixel Federation
Take in the first episode of our Masters of ASO, as we in... Read More
Jesse Lempiäinen
Read More
New: Geeklab Free for life
We've been blessed to work with the biggest developers in... Read More
Jesse Lempiäinen
ASO Guide - Localization
In today’s global mobile app market, localizing is a ne... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Geeklab's taxonomy
Follow our brief introduction to Geeklab's taxonomy, to h... Read More
Jesse Lempiäinen
The Story of Spotify
Spotify is one of the leading streaming platforms in the ... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Instagram for kids - is it really necessary?
Facebook has announced that it is currently working on a ... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
ASO Guide - Categories
Despite your goals on your app, categorizing it correctly... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
The Story of Facebook Messenger
I was having a conversation with a few of my friends abou... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Read More
The Story of Houseparty
When people were first introduced to the concept of lockd... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Mobile usage 10 years ago
The last ten years have changed the way we view mobile us... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Did you know? 8 facts and statistics on social media
Don't forget to check out the last Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
The Story of Snapchat
Snapchat is one of the most used apps in the world and ha... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Top 5 of February - All Apps
The statistics are from Sensor Tower and are based on fre... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Read More
Facebook Pixel and iOS 14.5 with Geeklab
With Apple's iOS 14 and its privacy updates, the F... Read More
Jesse Lempiäinen
Step by Step - Artificial Intelligence
Step by step is a series in which complex subjects are ex... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Read More
Mobile Operating Systems - Harmony OS 2.0 influencing a new era?
Android OS and iOS were both released over 10 years ago, ... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Did you know? 6 hidden features in popular apps
Many people use apps everyday not knowing they contain fe... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Popular TV-shows' and movies' influence on people's shopping behaviour
The variety of available TV-shows and movies today could ... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Gradients and their hype
You have probably noticed how gradient colors have been r... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Top 5 of January - All categories
To continue the series, next up is the first one of 2021!... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Step by step - How to protect your app and understand copyright, trademark, patent and agreements
Step by step is a series i... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
When working on your mobile strategy: Mobile App or Mobile Website?
Coming up with a mobile strategy can seem like a never en... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Why should you update your app often enough?
Today is the 22nd of January, so Christmas was almost a m... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Gaming communities and friendship
These times have put us all in a situation we have never ... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Questions to go through before developing an app for your company
Making an app seems like a good investment in a world whe... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
WhatsApp vs. Signal: Who rocks its security game better?
The comparison between WhatsApp and Signal has people buz... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Top 5 of December - Games
Let’s continue the series of Top 5! This is such a fun ... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
ASO in 2021: Secure user journey and overall creativity
This year has been crazy for the whole world and from so ... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
App icons - Has iOS 14 made them worthless?
In the past, companies haven’t had the need to update t... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
The End of Skype for Business - Why and who’s next?
We are living a time where online-courses, online-meeting... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
ASO Guide: 11 ASO Mistakes
ASO is a very new thing to many companies and thus, there... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Push notifications - How to use them efficiently
Have you ever wondered the core reason of push notificati... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
ASO vs. Influencer Marketing
Approximately 10 years ago, digimarketing started using t... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Colors and their effect on us - Part 2: Secondary colors
In Part 1 I examined the primary colors; blue, red and ye... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Colors and their effect on us - Part 1: Primary Colors
Coloring is an essential part of the branding process, si... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Suomalaiset opiskeluapplikaatiot ja niiden kehityskohdat
Ajat joita elämme, on laittanut kaikki meistä tilanteis... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
How many people have installed iOS 14?
iOS 14 adaptation rates are coming in fast. After just a ... Read More
Jesse Lempiäinen
Top 5 of August - Business
Welcome back to analyzing the Top 5 of the month. In this... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
How to validate your marketability with Facebook campaigns!
Setting up campaigns can seem to be an overwhelming techn... Read More
Jesse Lempiäinen
How to setup an ASO Facebook Campaign!
Setting up campaigns can seem to be an overwhelming techn... Read More
Jesse Lempiäinen
Top 5 of January - Education
To continue the Top 5 series, next up is Education! This ... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Top 5 of July - Action Games
In this new series, I am going to analyze different App c... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
ASO Guide: Vocabulary - First steps in becoming an ASO Specialist
ASO
App Store Optimization, improving seve... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Make it stand out - How to make an App: Part 3
In order to make your App ... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Screenshot Trends - What is next?
Screenshots are an essential part of alluring users in do... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Set your goal and brainstorm - How to make an App: Part 1
Today Apps vary from so many categories to another. You c... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Apple WWDC 2020: ASO recap
Due to the current situation, Apple kicked off its annual... Read More
Jesse Lempiäinen
Am I a gamer?
I scrolled through my iPhone's screen time the other day ... Read More
Miira Vehviläinen
Perfecting the Finished Product: Why A/B Testing is a Vital Step for Your Digital Marketing
Today's digital marketplace can be an overwhelming experi... Read More
Jani Torppa
Custom Details Page (CDP) by Google Play. What will it change?
Regardless of the number of ads you run, in most cases, t... Read More
Jesse Lempiäinen
Mobile Apps: What are the next industries to benefit by shifting their operations to apps?
Everyday, we are taking more and more steps towards mobil... Read More
Jesse Lempiäinen
Case Study: How Rovio decreased their user acquisition cost by 20%
Rovio has been using Geeklab for both ASO A/B te... Read More
Jesse Lempiäinen
The Ultimate App Submission marketing guideline 2020
Screenshots come in multiple sizes. Big and small, portra... Read More
Jesse Lempiäinen
Improve marketability, save millions
At its core, improving marketability m... Read More
Jani Torppa
Why and how to add a Facebook Pixel to Geeklab
Facebook pixel is a tool that allows external application... Read More
Jesse Lempiäinen
3 production phases to run ASO in 2020!
App Store Optimization is crucial, but... Read More
Jani Torppa
Why you need to focus on your icon!
The one single element that follows you through the entir... Read More
Jesse Lempiäinen
App Store Optimisation, what and why?
Imagine if Coca-Cola had the opportunity to single-handed... Read More
Jesse Lempiäinen