TikTok Adds Photo Mode for Pictures and 2,200-Character Long Captions for Video Clips

In the attempt to get back at Instagram for – let us call it – borrowing some of its best ideas, the TikTok app is adding a new Photo Mode for still images. And it looks suspiciously like IG’s respective functionality, where you can post a carousel of pictures for other users to scroll through. Describing the new photo tool, TikTok said it allowed creating a soundtracked photo slideshow where pics were automatically displayed one at a time.

The Photo Mode tool is located at the bottom of the For You page, where it is indicated with the “+” icon. Clicking the Upload button in the bottom right corner will grant you access to your photo gallery; after selecting the pics for your carousel and hitting the Next button, you will be shown the content editing page with a choice of music and effects. 

While Photo Mode is something we have not expected of a social media app dedicated to short-form videos, the feature might open up new possibilities for content creators and spawn an infinite number of fascinating trends. For example, it is not hard to envision people using this tool to post still images in the “Before and After” style.

A few other improvements have been introduced in the clip editing department. Thus, TikTok users now have more video-enhancing instruments and options at their disposal to make adjusting their clips much easier. Perhaps the most significant change has been made to the caption length allowed for video descriptions, which rose from the meager 300 characters to 2,200 – a mind-blowing 730% bump in the space that can be used for self-expression and promotion!

Have you had a chance to test some of TikTok’s latest features, more specifically, the Photo Mode functionality? What do you make of it? Do not hesitate to speak up in the comments below this post!