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Instagram Use as Reference: how to copy a winning Reel's format

Instagram now lets you keep another Reel in a small window inside your camera while you film your own version. Here is how to use it, plus what Meta added to its free Edits app the same week.

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WHAT THIS ADDSMost coverage lists the new features. The useful part is the habit they allow: find a Reel that already works in your niche, open it as a reference, and film your own version of its pacing and structure beside it. You are copying the format, not the content, which is how most short-form ideas travel. Pair it with the Edits changes (audio links, Trending topics, Kits) and a small business can turn a weekly Reel into a repeatable routine.

What Instagram and Meta announced

Social Media Today reported on October 15, 2026 that Meta added creator tools in two places. In the Instagram app, a Use as reference option for Reels. In Edits, Meta's video editing app, audio links, trending topics, Kits and more visual effects. Meta's own @creators account on Threads announced the features; Meta's post lists "50 new video effects including a new library of in-and-out motions".

Edits is free: Meta's launch page says it is "available globally and free for download in the App Store and Google Play Store."

How to use Use as reference

Meta's @creators post gives the steps. Use this to film your own take on a Reel that already works:

  1. Open a Reel that is shorter than 90 seconds.
  2. Tap the three-dot menu and choose Use as reference.
  3. The Reel opens in a small window inside your camera. Watch it as often as you need, move the window around the screen, or pause it while you practice.
  4. Press record when you are ready.

Social Media Today adds that a countdown helps you sync your clip with the reference, and that the option was available on iOS only at launch. If you do not see it on Android yet, that is why.

A simple way to use it for your business

  • Pick one Reel in your niche that clearly worked: a hook you would stop for, a cut rhythm you like.
  • Open it as a reference and film the same structure about your product, service or customer story. Copy the pacing, never the words or footage.
  • Keep the reference window small and in a corner so you can match the timing of the hook and the first cut.

New in Edits: audio links, Trending and Kits

Meta's @creators post describes the Edits changes in one line each:

  • Audio links: "Add fun clickable links for your audio." Viewers can tap through to the song or sound used in a Reel.
  • Trending: find "topics your followers are most interested in." Social Media Today reports this is limited to creators with more than 10,000 followers for now.
  • Kits: save and reuse your go-to styles, so each Reel keeps the same look.
  • Effects: 50 new video effects, including a library of in-and-out motions.

Meta's posts do not give step-by-step instructions for audio links, Trending or Kits, so open the Edits app and look for them in the editor rather than relying on a screenshot guide.

One thing going away: series linking

Social Media Today also reports Instagram is removing the option to link Reels together in a series on October 28, to simplify the Reels experience. If you built a series that way, plan to keep your sequence another way, for example in a Highlight or a pinned post.

What we do not know yet

Meta has not said when Use as reference reaches Android, or how many followers it takes to see Trending outside the reported 10,000 limit. Neither has published results on whether videos made this way perform better. Treat it as a faster way to practise a format that already works, not a growth guarantee.

DO THISOpen a Reel under 90 seconds, tap the three dots, tap Use as reference, and film your own version beside it. Then try Edits: add an audio link, check Trending topics, and save your style as a Kit.

Questions people also ask

What is Use as reference on Instagram?

A camera option that keeps another Reel in a small, movable window while you film. You can pause it and replay it as you practise.

How do I use a Reel as a reference?

Open a Reel shorter than 90 seconds, tap the three-dot menu, choose Use as reference, then record your version in the camera.

Is Use as reference on Android?

Social Media Today reports it was iOS only at launch. Meta has not given a date for Android.

Is the Edits app free?

Yes. Meta's launch page says Edits is free to download on the App Store and Google Play.

What are Kits in Edits?

Meta says Kits let you save and reuse your go-to styles. Meta's posts give no further detail.

What happens to Reel series linking?

Social Media Today reports Instagram is removing the option to link Reels in a series on October 28.

Sources

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