Instagram now lets you download Reels

Oh, I didn't think that this day would come: when Instagram will allow users to download Reels, its short-form video feature.

The social media platform appears to be taking good notes from TikTok, which has had this feature forever which allows users to share its videos with a larger audience, across multiple apps and platforms.

Meta must be seeing a lot of engagement with Instagram Reels, with recent stats shared by the company showing that with its AI-powered Reels recommendations, the time spent on Instagram has seen a substantial 24% increase.

But not only is this a huge threat to TikTok, especially when you consider Instagram's mammoth 2.35 billion monthly active users worldwide. I'm predicting that the engagement could quadruple in a few months.

While it would be interesting to see TikTok's response to this, there is a small catch, though. Only Reels from public accounts are eligible for download, and even public accounts can choose to disable this feature if they prefer. Also, the download feature is rolling out initially to users in the United States, with other countries to follow in the coming weeks or months.