Instagram tests Reels pause feature as TikTok remains in limbo

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tests Reels pause feature as TikTok remains in limbo

Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Meta is testing a long-awaited pause feature on

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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 ******** company ByteDance, could be banned for good on April 5 and is still unavailable on the Apple and

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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,

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users have only been able to pause videos on

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Reels by tapping and holding on their screen, requiring more work than simply tapping the screen to pause on TikTok. Previously, one tap on

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Reels would mute a video’s audio, but the video would continue to play. On Thursday, CNBC was able to pause

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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 @

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, can I please request a pause button on reels?? sincerely, a grieving former TikTok scroller,” one user

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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,

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chief Adam Mosseri said

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.

Meta is also paying creators to promote

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on TikTok, Snapchat,

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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

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and

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to continue growing,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on a call with analysts Wednesday.

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#tests #Reels #pause #feature #TikTok #remains #limbo

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