Reports are circulating that Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, is considering launching its short-form video feature Reels as a stand-alone app. The move is being interpreted as a pre-emptive bid by Meta to seize a competitive advantage if Chinese-owned platform TikTok in eventually banned in the US.
The suggestion that Meta might rollout a Reels app was first highlighted by The Information, which said that Instagram boss Adam Mosseri (pictured) was overheard discussing the possibility with staff. Meta has not responded to media enquiries for comment.
On the face of it, a stand-alone Reels app makes sense. Currently, the feature is performing robustly for Meta, with 200 billion Reels played every day across Instagram and Facebook. In terms of Instagram specifically, around a third of its feed posts are Reels. As of 2025, Instagram Reels has 2 billion monthly active users, and 50% of time spent on Instagram is directly accounted for by Reels consumption.
At the same time, a stand-alone Reels app would fit neatly into Meta’s GenAI ambitions. Already GenAI is deployed for caption generation and content curation/ recommendation. But the next phase is likely to be a shift towards AI-made Reels.
All of this, however, assumes that users would be willing to embrace a stand-alone Reels. Risks include a) an independent Reels failing to capture audience imagination, b) a negative impact on Instagram, c) insufficient clout to compete with either TikTok or YouTube Shorts, which has also been gaining momentum in shortform.
Worth noting that Meta has tried launching a rival to TikTok before – Lasso. That was introduced under the Facebook umbrella but didn’t catch on.
