HOME >NEWS >Instagram just launched new TikTok — ahem, Boomerang — effects

Instagram just launched new TikTok — ahem, Boomerang — effects

2025-04-27 01:30:10

Boomerang lovers rejoice! Instagram released new features on Friday that should look familiar to anyone who uses TikTok.

Users can now trim the duration of their video loops and access new effects in the "Boomerang" tab in Stories. The features are:

SlowMo: Slows down the boomerang (duh!).
Echo: A blurry, semi-transparent trail added to movements — aka drunk vision.
Duo:A digital glitch effect straight out of The Matrix.

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These features aren't groundbreaking, though. Similar effects already exist on TikTok. In October, Mark Zuckerberg hinted at his plans to take on his company's new rival.

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"[TikTok] married short-form, immersive video with browse. So it’s almost like the Explore Tab that we have on Instagram," Zuckerberg said in the leaked meeting. "I kind of think about TikTok as if it were Explore for stories, and that were the whole app ... So we have a number of approaches that we’re going to take towards this."

Instagram began testing another TikTok–like feature, Reels, in Brazil in November.