Even though TikTok may have got a last-minute reprieve, other Bytedance apps continue to be banned in the US. And so Meta has swooped in to offer an alternative to one of them.
Edits is a CapCut competitor that'll be available in February at the earliest.
With popular applications missing from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store in the US thanks to a ban (which looks set to be repealed by President Trump once he is sworn in), Facebook and Instagram-owner Meta has swooped in to scoop up content creators left adrift.
The well-documented TikTok ban in North America has dominated headlines, but ByteDance – the company behind the social video app – has also seen its other offerings removed from app stores, including popular mobile video editing app CapCut.
In response to the issues ByteDance is experiencing with the US apps ban, Meta announced Edits, its own video editing app for mobile.
Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, made the announcement on his Instagram page, saying “Edits is more than a video editing app; it’s a full suite of creative tools.”
That sounds an awful lot like CapCut on the surface.
“There will be a dedicated tab for inspiration, another for keeping track of early ideas, a much higher-quality camera (which I used to record this video), all the editing tools you’d expect, the ability to share drafts with friends and other creators, and – if you decide to share your videos on Instagram – powerful insights into how those videos perform,” he added.
Late to the party?
There’s uncertainty around the future of ByteDance’s apps, including TikTok and CapCut, so it’s no surprise Meta is looking to muscle in on an audience which may feel a little at sea. Yet, Meta may have missed the boat.
For a few hours on Sunday 19 January 2025, users of social video app TikTok in the US received a message that the application was temporarily unavailable when they tried to load it.
This was the result of a new law coming into effect, banning ByteDance’s applications in the US as the company had failed to sell TikTok and other titles to a company not affiliated with the Chinese government.
However, before the day was out, ByteDance confirmed it was restoring its applications for North American users after soon-to-be President Trump said he’d sign an executive order lifting the ban once he was sworn in on January 20.
US users began to see services restored on January 19, although at time of writing the apps are still currently missing from app stores.
So what’s the issue for Meta? Well, Mosseri confirmed Edits “won’t be available to download until next month” and that “the first version is going to be incomplete”.
Head over to the Apple App Store, where the app is currently available for pre-order, and you’ll see a message that reads “Expected 13 Mar, 2025” - which is almost two months away.
With ByteDance’s apps seemingly returning to operation and the possibility the ban could be completely removed in the coming weeks, it’s not clear how many CapCut users will be looking for an alternative application once Edits officially lands.
