Introducing TikTok Photos: Bid farewell to agonizing over picture-perfect captions and embrace the carefree spirit of posting blurry photo dumps and candids.

Amidst the ongoing US-China tussle, TikTok is reportedly developing a new app called “TikTok Photos” to challenge Instagram’s dominance in still image sharing. Bonus point: The uncanny resemblance between the spotted icon and PayPal’s logo adds an intriguing twist.

Nonetheless, we all know that TikTok already offers the ability to post scroll-through pictures as videos and has even been encouraging its users to share photo posts. But apparently, at ByteDance HQ, they decided photos deserved their own spotlight (and maybe a break from the dance challenges). And they’re no stranger to trying new things – remember Lemon8, anyone?

This move clearly reflects TikTok’s broader strategy of emulating its Chinese counterparts Douyin and Xiaohongshu, particularly when it comes to integrating e-Commerce features and strengthening its appeal in Western markets.

If the code leak holds true, fingers crossed that TikTok succeeds in truly offering users a nostalgic browsing experience similar to the early unhinged Instagram of 2012.

Learn more about this update right here.