Mashable: Instagram boasts nearly 1.5 billion monthly active users, while TikTok has slightly over 1.1 billion users.

Instagram has reclaimed its position as the most downloaded app globally, surpassing TikTok, thanks to the introduction of its video feature called Reels, which mimics TikTok's functionality.

Since its inception in 2010, Instagram has gained immense popularity, especially with the presence of influential figures like the Kardashians, making it a pivotal platform for the influencer culture.

However, in recent years, it has faced tough competition from TikTok, the Chinese-owned short video platform, within its own domain.

Instagram's introduction of a short-form video function in 2020, which many viewed as a copy of TikTok, has proven to be beneficial in its comeback.

In 2023, the app was downloaded 767 million times globally, marking a 20% increase from the year before. In comparison, TikTok saw 733 million downloads, showing a growth of only 4%. From 2018 to 2022, TikTok had been the most downloaded app worldwide.

According to Sensor Tower, Instagram boasts nearly 1.5 billion monthly active users, while TikTok has slightly over 1.1 billion users. Despite this, TikTok has a larger number of active users spending an average of 95 minutes daily on the platform, compared to 62 minutes on Instagram.

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook and CEO of Meta, Instagram's parent company, has recognized TikTok as a significant competitive threat in recent times.

In 2022, he acknowledged that his company's apps faced numerous competitors vying for users' attention, with platforms like TikTok experiencing rapid growth. Reports also surfaced that same year indicating Meta had engaged a Republican consulting firm to sow public distrust around its competitor.

TikTok is currently encountering significant political resistance in the United States due to persistent worries regarding its Chinese ownership.

Recently, a group of bipartisan American legislators proposed a bill that would require ByteDance, the Beijing-based parent company of TikTok, to sell off the app within approximately six months or else face a ban.