DESCRIBING itself as "the next generation of HD streaming platform", the ReelShort app has seen a surge of success in recent weeks, with over 10 million downloads.
So what is this app all about? ReekShort hosts "micro-series" and films in the form of short, one-minute videos — a sort of mix between Netflix and TikTok.
It's probably no coincidence that the name of the app, ReelShort, combines Reel, which evokes Instagram's Reels and Short, not unlike YouTube Shorts.
All three products offer a short video format, modelled on the TikTok offering.
The relatively new app, an export from COL Group, based in Beijing, China, lets users watch series and movies in the form of episodes lasting up to one minute on their mobile device.
"ReelShort is the next generation of HD streaming platform that changes the way you watch and consume video shows.
"Each episode is one-minute long, making it easy for you to watch on the go.
"Stream from any of your mobile devices, whether you're just kicking back on your couch, at lunch or even when you're on the toilet (yes, you know how you are)," reads the app description on the Google Play Store.
While the length of the episodes is similar to the content length on TikTok, the app's layout borrows more from the style of Netflix.
The home page organises the various contents according to several criteria: popularity, themes and the most popular.
Titles evoke pulpy romance soap operas like 'My Gorgeous Wife is an Ex-Convict' and 'The Double Life of My Billionaire Husband'.
The micro-dramas are often "adapted by Chinese teams at COL's Californian subsidiary, Crazy Maple Studio, from Chinese scripts that were first written and produced for audiences in China," outlines 'The Economist'.
And this new way of watching fictional content is said to have seduced millions of Internet users.
According to Techcrunch, which compares it to the now defunct American short-form streaming platform Quibi, the app has been downloaded over 11 million times on Android and iOS since its launch in August 2022.
The Economist notes that many of the shows target middle-aged women, while young people also seem to be particularly attracted to these micro-series, which can be consumed quickly and easily on a phone.
Having largely abandoned traditional television, Generation Z has largely flocked to social networks like TikTok to consume content tailored to that platform, including old TV shows and films that have been uploaded in several small clips.
TikTok has quickly become this generation's TV.
Despite a rating of 3.8/5 on Apple's App Store, there's no shortage of positive comments.
"I didn't expect to enjoy this app as much as I did. The stories are so intriguing," commented one consumer.
"I wish each episode was two minutes long and that there wasn't a recap at the beginning. I noticed there aren't many shows, but I don't know how long this app has been a thing, so I hope more are to come. Overall, I love the app," the commenter continued.
But to access this content free of charge, users have to watch numerous ads, which is not to everyone's taste: "Disappointed! The episodes are only one to 1.5 minutes until it makes you watch an ad that's even longer... There needs to be a cap on the ad time to only 15-30 seconds! On top of that, you can only watch 20 free episodes a day before they make you pay to continue watching... I'm down to watching the last four episodes and it's not even giving me the option to watch an ad to finish it. I think it's making me pay to finish the movie," commented a Google Play user.
TikTok has also experimented with micro-series.
In France it collaborated with French rapper Abd Al Malik and Amazon's Prime Video in 2021 on a series composed of 12 episodes of 60 seconds each.