TikTok rolls out photo slideshow feature to rival Instagram

SINGAPORE — Social media platform TikTok, best known for its short videos, has gradually rolled out a photo slideshow feature in recent weeks that could rival Instagram’s long-running photo carousel feature.

The feature, called "photo mode", is available in most regions globally including Singapore and it allows TikTok users to share multiple still images in a single post, along with captions of up to 2,200 characters.

In September, TikTok raised its caption character-count limit from 300 to 2,200, bringing it on par with Instagram’s caption limit.

The new photo posts may also contain music that users can add to give a soundtrack to the images, TikTok said in an Oct 7 post on its official website.

Users may watch the images in a "photo mode" post that automatically displays one image after another, or swipe through them at their own pace.

This photo slideshow feature will remind Instagram users of the way they have long been able to post multiple images in a single carousel post.

News and entertainment website Mashable reported on Sept 27 that the new TikTok photo feature was being largely used to share content sourced from other social media platforms such as Tumblr and Instagram.

TikTok added in its Oct 7 post that the feature is “ideal for sharing high quality images on TikTok” and it hopes that it will give users another space to “express themselves and more deeply connect with others”.

TODAY has reached out to TikTok for comment.