Instagram has introduced two new features in Reels: Text-to-Speech and Voice Effects, which are already widely used in TikTok. The photo-sharing app is taking the easy route to appeal to the hip and young crowd by directly lifting features from TikTok, as it has done many times in the past.
The text-to-speech option lets you add an auto-generated voice to read the input text aloud, making it a great accessibility feature for the blind and vision-impaired folks. But TikTok introduced the option with a robotic and monotonous voice, making it “trendy.”
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To use the feature, launch the Instagram app and navigate to the Reels camera. You can either record a video or upload one via gallery. After overlaying text onto the video, tap the text bubble to view the three-dot menu on the sticker. This should present the Text-to-Speech option. The feature presently allows the choice between male and female voices.
Instagram has also rolled out Voice Effects for Reels, which can be used to modify audio. To access the effect, tap the music note after recording your reel. This will open the audio mixer, where you can choose whether you want to sound like you inhaled some helium. You can also make yourself sound like a robot, an announcer, a vocalist, or even a giant.
Which TikTok feature will Instagram inevitably rip off next? Let us know your predictions in the comments below.
[Via Instagram]
