TikTok‘s new app resembles old-school Instagram. The ByteDance-owned platform has quietly launched Whee, a new app that lets users share photos among close friends.
Whee has not yet received an official launch, but Artem Russakovskii — the founder of tech outlet Android Police — noticed the app and posted about it on X. Russakovskii noted that Whee is live in “over a dozen countries,” including Australia, Turkey, Thailand, and Pakistan.
The United States, however, is not on that list. For now, Americans who are curious about the new app will need to find other means to access it.
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Am I the first one to report this? Bytedance, the developer of Tiktok, is testing a new app called Whee. It’s currently not available in the US but it is live in over a dozen countries.https://t.co/iNVQlVQ5C2https://t.co/n9rKnrHovE
— Artem Russakovskii (@ArtemR) June 18, 2024
The Google Play page for Whee describes it as a hub filled with “real-life photos that only your friends can see.” TikTok is listed as the app’s publisher, and at the time of this post, Whee’s most recent update went live on June 7.
Whee reads as TikTok’s response to Instagram’s increasing focus on video. Instagram Head Adam Mosseri has said on several occasions that his app has no choice but to show more videos, as it must follow the direction set by user interest. That reasoning has not sat well with users who miss the good old days, when Instagram was defined by its photo-based milieu. Several apps have already tried to recreate that experience, and Whee is one of the latest attempts.
TikTok has already debuted an app that mimics Instagram in crucial ways. Earlier this year, the app teased TikTok Notes, which it described as a “new app for photo posts” that is “coming soon.”
While U.S.-based users wait for these new apps to arrive Stateside, they can follow TikTok’s progress in its legal battle against the U.S. government. The app is developing its arguments as it prepares for a September 16 court date.
