The short-form video sharing platform TikTok is reportedly working on a dedicated app to share photos. An APK teardown of TikTok revealed multiple mentions of an app called TikTok Photos that seems to be under development.
The SpAndroid decompiled the latest TikTok version 33.8.4 (com.zhiliaoapp.musically), discovering multiple strings related to the unreleased app. For instance, it includes phrases such as “Get TikTok Photos,” “Share this post to TikTok Photos,” and “Reach other like-minded people who enjoy photo posts.”
The code includes text like “Sync Your posts to TikTok Photos” and “Tiktok Photos will be launched soon…,” hinting that the photo-sharing app will offer interoperability with the existing TikTok app, allowing users to sync their existing photos. However, TikTok is yet to drop an official word about the app and its expected release date.
It’s possible to post photos on the main TikTok app right now. For instance, you can post a single photo as a video, or create a swipeable slideshow of multiple photos with filters, voiceovers, text, and sounds. Not just photos and videos, TikToks has ventured into other areas as well. It launched a music streaming service called TikTok Music, which is available in limited regions.
But to wipe the dust off our memories, the Meta-owned Instagram was a photo-sharing app before TikTok came into the market and forced its competitors to adopt the short-form video format. Over the years, Instagram has become a video-first platform leaving a potential gap behind that TikTok might be planning to fill.
The ByteDance-owned social media platform has been under the US Congress’ radar for quite some time now. While dark clouds loom over TikTok, it was reported that the former Activision Blizzard CEO has plans to buy it. In recent news, TikTok launched a native app for Apple’s Vision Pro headset and is working on in-app Election Centers to monitor fake news during EU elections.
Source: TheSpAndroid