Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Instagram plans to launch its TikTok clone in the US and more than 50 other countries within weeks, NBC News reported this morning. Instagram later confirmed to TechCrunch that the feature will launch in “early August” in the US and more.
The feature, called Reels, is Instagram’s attempt to recreate the short musical video format that thrives on TikTok. Reels will let users record and edit 15-second video clips set to music, or users will be able to reuse audio from another person’s video, as is commonly done on TikTok. So far, the feature is only available in a few countries, including India and Brazil.
Instagram — like its owner, Facebook — has a history of replicating popular features from other…