After hints of it were spotted floating around in the main app over the last few weeks, TikTok has now officially launched its new, dedicated photo-sharing app, called “TikTok Notes”, with users in Australia and Canada able to download the separate image app.
As you can see in these images, TikTok Notes is a basic photo-sharing app, with images and their descriptions as you can already find on TikTok, but gathered into their own space.
As explained by TikTok:
“We hope that the TikTok community will use TikTok Notes to continue sharing their moments through photo posts. Whether documenting adventures, expressing creativity, or simply sharing snapshots of one’s day, the TikTok Notes experience is designed for those who would like to share and engage through photo content.”
The app layout is reminiscent of Pinterest, while also bearing similarities to TikTok’s eCommerce app “Lemon8,” which it launched last year.
In fact, it looks almost exactly like Lemon8, without the product focus.
As you can see in these images, it’s a sort of staggered tile display of images from TikTok, with a lot of them not really making as much sense without the broader context of TikTok’s video feed, though that’ll ideally change over time, as users post more to the app specifically.
User profiles also look a lot like TikTok, with the same basic layout, along with some cool neon colored icons.
In terms of posting, you can add up to 34 images to a single post, with the pictures presented as a side-scrolling, carousel-like collection. You also have a 4,000 character caption limit, along with a title section.
Which is something, I guess, though right now, it’s a fairly bland app, like TikTok, but without the critical element that makes TikTok compelling, being short videos.
Like, does anyone really want this?
I guess, for TikTok, it’s looking to branch out into new areas, and experimenting with additional formats and options in order to potentially capitalize on new opportunities.
It also follows the success of Tencent-backed Xiaohongshu in China, which is essentially a local version of Instagram. That’s seen a big rise in the Chinese market, which has also expanded into eCommerce opportunities.
Seemingly, TikTok’s hoping to replicate that with Notes in Western markets. But in Western markets, we already have Instagram, so the the strategy is not entirely clear.
In any event, it’s another experiment, which TikTok will be hoping to use to broaden its footprint.
Will it work? Probably not, but maybe it catches on, and provides a new outlet for creators.