Meta denies that it intentionally muted uploaded Reels videos so that users could not export them to TikTok, The Verge informs. The company said an “audio glitch” was to blame, and the bug is already in the process of being fixed.
Earlier this week, the Verge reported that users who wanted to export their videos to another app were forced to publish the video first – or risk losing audio. Before that, Instagram users could shoot and edit videos using Reels’ tools and then upload and publish them elsewhere.
While Meta hopes to position Reels as the future of Instagram and Facebook, it is struggling to compete with TikTok. Creators and brands often post videos to their TikTok accounts, which means that Instagram and Facebook are no longer the exclusive venues for this content.
TikTok gives users the ability to easily repost videos made on the platform to Facebook and Instagram Reels, but the reverse action on Meta-owned platforms requires manually downloading the video first. Reels and TikTok have different editing tools, so it’s easy to see why a user might want to edit on one particular platform and do a cross-post – not to mention it just saves time.
At the moment, Meta is still working on fixing the audio glitch on Reels. Apparently, the problem only affects iPhone users. “Due to a bug, the Reels download feature is not working as intended for iOS users and in some cases, audio is missing in downloads — we’re working to fix the issue as soon as possible,” the company said in its statement.
