A key advantage TikTok has over Instagram Reels is that anyone may download a TikTok video and share it to another social media platform, which helps the platform gain more users. According to a post by CEO Adam Mosseri (using the new broadcast channels functionality) noticed by TechCrunch, Instagram has now officially acquired that capability.
For the time being, the feature is only available on mobile for US users and only for public accounts. In parallel, users with public accounts can select a setting to prevent other users from downloading their reels.
How to download an Instagram reel?
The process is fairly straightforward.
- Step 1: Open the reel you want to save.
- Step 2: Click the Share button in the lower right.
- Step 3: The video will be saved to your camera roll when you select “Download” at the bottom.
An image posted by Mosseri (top) appears to show that downloaded Reels will be watermarked with the Instagram logo and account name, just like TikTok does. Additionally, likely as a means of promoting its short video feature, YouTube began adding watermarks to desktop-created Shorts videos.
Instagram appears to be following suit now, likely seeing it as a means of ensuring that Reels are seen on other social media platforms as well. However, it does not go out of its way to accommodate videos from competing platforms. The company owned by Meta allows videos to be uploaded, but in 2021, its algorithms stopped promoting watermarked videos from competitors.