Instagram tests Reels pause feature as TikTok remains in limbo

Instagram tests Reels pause feature as TikTok remains in limbo


Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Meta is testing a long-awaited pause feature on Instagram Reels that will allow users to start and stop videos with just one tap.

The new feature is the latest sign that Meta is looking to capitalize on TikTok’s uncertain future in the U.S. after it briefly went dark earlier this month. The popular short-form video app, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, could be banned for good on April 5 and is still unavailable on the Apple and Google app stores.

The pause feature is currently available to a small group of users around the globe, Meta said. The company was unable to specify when it will roll out more broadly.

Previously, Instagram users have only been able to pause videos on Instagram Reels by tapping and holding on their screen, requiring more work than simply tapping the screen to pause on TikTok. Previously, one tap on Instagram Reels would mute a video’s audio, but the video would continue to play. On Thursday, CNBC was able to pause Instagram Reels videos with a single tap.

Thousands of users have left comments and taken to other social media to lobby for a Reels pause button.

“Hello @instagram, can I please request a pause button on reels?? sincerely, a grieving former TikTok scroller,” one user posted on social media site X while TikTok was offline for a few hours in the U.S. earlier this month.

Besides the Reels pause button, Meta this month has announced a new video editing app called Edits that will compete directly with ByteDance’s CapCut editing app. Edits will launch in February, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said in a post.

Meta is also paying creators to promote Instagram on TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube Shorts and other short-form video platforms, CNBC reported Sunday.

Shares of Meta are up slightly on Thursday, a day after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates on the top and bottom lines.

“We’re going to learn what’s going to happen with TikTok, and regardless of that, I expect Reels on Instagram and Facebook to continue growing,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on a call with analysts Wednesday.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO

The big winner from a TikTok closure in the U.S. is Meta and X: Heroic Ventures' Michael Fertik



Source

Week in review: Stocks hit records on inflation data, earnings — plus, we started a new name
Technology

Week in review: Stocks hit records on inflation data, earnings — plus, we started a new name

Stocks jumped for the second straight week and reached record highs Friday as Washington trade and shutdown drama took a back seat to cooler inflation data and stronger earnings. The S & P 500 and Nasdaq rose 2% and 2.3%, respectively, for the week. In fact, the S & P 500 on Friday peaked above […]

Read More
AI spending is boosting the economy, but many businesses are in survival mode
Technology

AI spending is boosting the economy, but many businesses are in survival mode

Cameron Pappas, owner of Norton’s Florist Norton’s For Cameron Pappas, owner of Norton’s Florist in Birmingham, Alabama, the artificial intelligence boom is a world away. While companies like Nvidia, Alphabet and Broadcom are lifting the stock market to fresh highs and bolstering GDP, Pappas is experiencing what’s happening in the real economy, one that’s far removed […]

Read More
More demand than supply gives companies an edge, Jim Cramer says
Technology

More demand than supply gives companies an edge, Jim Cramer says

“Supply constrained,” are the two of the most important words CNBC’s Jim Cramer said he’s heard so far during earnings season and explained why this dynamic is favorable for companies. “When you’re supplied constrained, you have the ability to raise prices, and that’s the holy grail in any industry,” he said. Intel‘s strong earnings results […]

Read More