Facebook pivots back to video with more Reels and HDR

Facebook pivots back to video with more Reels and HDR

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Meta announced a bunch of new updates to its video features on Facebook, including improved editing tools, the ability to upload videos in HDR, and a new Video tab.

Let’s start first with that Video tab, the new name for the tab formerly known as Facebook Watch. Meta says that the tab is now “the one-stop shop for everything video on Facebook, including Reels, long-form and Live content.” You’ll be able to scroll vertically through a “personalized feed” of videos, and as you’re scrolling, there will also be Reels sections with shortform video. The tab will begin appearing in the shortcut bar “soon,” Meta says.

GIF: Meta

Here’s what the Video tab looks like.

If you want to post a video, Meta says that it’s bringing over the Reels editing tools to the Facebook feed, meaning you’ll be able to do things like add audio, text, and music to your videos more easily. You’ll be able to upload HDR videos from your phone, which Meta says is “the first of our efforts to bring true HDR video support to our family of apps.” Meta is also tightening the connections across its apps by letting you view and write comments on Instagram Reels while you’re watching them on Facebook.

Meta’s Threads may be the new hot thing, but Facebook is still huge, with 2 billion daily users as of the company’s last earnings report. These new video updates could prove to be a big deal for people who watch and make videos on the app.