In 2015, the blogging site Tumblr launched a GIF discovery feature called Tumblr TV as an experimental product. Now, with the U.S. TikTok ban leaving the fate of the short-form video app uncertain, Tumblr has decided it’s finally time to launch Tumblr TV, which has since evolved to support video, to all its users as one of its standard features.
The company on Tuesday announced the product’s graduation from its experimental projects home known as Tumblr Labs, explaining how the tab would become available to everyone. New users will see the tab in a fairly prominent third position in the app. Meanwhile, existing users will be able to toggle Tumblr TV on or off in their Dashboard Tabs configuration settings, Tumblr said.
The decision to promote the video product from an experiment to a core feature nearly 10 years after its creation has a lot to do with the demand for TikTok alternatives in the wake of the U.S. law that banned the app and others with Chinese ownership in the country.
Though enforcement of that ban is currently on hold after President Trump’s intervention, it’s still unclear whether TikTok will agree to a deal — despite its many suitors — to keep the app live in the U.S. after the 75-day deadline extension is up.
Like many apps, Tumblr noted it saw a surge of users joining its service on the day of the TikTok ban on January 19, a company spokesperson told TechCrunch. As a result, the blogging service saw a roughly 35% increase in iOS app installs and a 70% increase in new users joining Communities, a feature that allows users to join various groups focused on specific interests.
In fact, some newcomers even established Tumblr Communities, like TikTok Repository, aimed at those who wanted a place to back up and share their TikTok videos. Another Community, TikTok Refugees, was active with both new and returning users, the company said.
As a competitor to TikTok, however, TumblrTV falls short. Though the company made many improvements while the service was a Labs feature — including the addition of lightbox support, improved scrubbing, and video support — the final product doesn’t feel all that much like TikTok, where original creator content dominates.
Tumblr’s video feed does allow for vertical swipe-based navigation within its channels (like Art or Sports) when viewed on mobile, similar to TikTok. But the GIFs featured in this full-screen viewing mode are naturally grainy, while many of the videos featured aren’t formatted for vertical viewing because they were never recorded for a vertical video app in the first place.
Still, the company hopes that a video feed could make TikTok users feel a little bit more at home if they decide to move to Tumblr.
Of course, with TikTok back online in the U.S. for the time being, the demand for a backup app is likely waning.
