[App Friday] Why Virat Kohli, Badshah, Divine, Hardik Pandya and 15 million other influencers are using homegrown short-form video app MX TakaTak

Popular short-form video app TikTok left millions of users disappointed when it stopped working in the country after the ban on Chinese apps was enforced. On the bright side though, this opened opportunities aplenty for an array of Made-in-India apps like Chingari, Josh, Roposo, Moj, MX TakaTak, and more.

A report by RedSeer states that Indian short-form apps have retained 65-70 percent of TikTok subscribers by acquiring influencers and have added another 30-35 percent of new users in the past year. The report, The Rise of Made in India Digital Content, said nearly 60 percent of the total user base represent Tier II regions.

A short-form app that has recently been in the news is MX TakaTak, with more than 100 million downloads and counting.

The app, founded in June 2020, most recently roped in celebrities like Hardik Pandya, Badshah, and Virat Kohli, and has also partnered with several IPL teams. Some other popular names include Gima Ashi, Manjul Khattar, Aashika Bhatia, Khushi, Lucky Dancer, and Angel Rai. According to the app makers, there are about 15 million artists and creators now on TakaTak.

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In terms of content, the app has a plethora of videos across various genres like dialogue dubbing, funny videos, crafts and DIY, food, health, fitness, sports, memes, and others.

Besides 100 million downloads on the PlayStore, the app also has a rating of 4.2 stars. The app is now available on iOS as well.

We decided to see what the fuss was all about by reviewing the app this week. Something that did grab our attention early on was how the logo colours of TakaTak matched TikTok’s colour scheme. Let’s see if the similarity stops there or if there’s more to it.

Browse without login

First things first, once you download the app, there is no need to login, instead, you get to tap on all the interesting genres/categories to create a curated browsing experience. The categories range from scene creation, art & craft and music, to poetry, automobiles and many more. Select as many as you want. Once you click submit, the app switches to full screen mode from where you can browse videos by swiping up. Our browsing took us through content that was a mix of funny, fitness-oriented, and music videos. We also happened to notice some verified accounts across these genres. The best part was not having to login or set up an account to simply browse.

As for exploring features on the app, signing up is mandatory, either via your Google or Facebook account or phone number.

Once logged in, the app asks for your gender and date of birth, information you can choose to hide from other users. Once your TakaTak user id is created, you have the option to change it once every 180 days

The app has five tabs altogether on the home screen, with these buttons at the bottom - ‘Home’, ‘Discover’, ‘+’ , ‘Notifications’ and ‘Me’. The simplified UI interface makes it easy for a user to navigate.

Where there is scope for improvement is more reaction buttons to videos. Right now, you either like a video, comment, or just scroll over.

Competition, concerts, and auditions

TakaTak is more than just a short-form video app, and once we move to the second tab of the homepage, Discover, this becomes more evident. In this tab, you explore various aspects of the app, including engagement, what with contests, auditions and more. These videos are usually 15-seconds long.

The app recently announced live performances on its platform, hosting artistes Ankur Tewari, Kr$na, Divine, Arjun Kanungo, Ash King and others so far.

Video Creation

TakaTak has a decent video editor tool, with options to create a duet video with your favourite user or influencer, or funny TikTok-like clips. The video tool also lets users shoot videos, and edit them by applying filters, effects and add music from a rich library.

Completed videos can be saved on your phone gallery, or shared on social media or instant messaging apps like WhatsApp.

The app supports content in various Indian languages like Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, and English.

The Verdict

That the MX Takatak app is not just a regular short-form video app is clear from the sheer number of influencers on board this platform. There are a lot more experiences on offer as well, like the live concerts. From creating music to lip sync videos, and competitions to auditions, the app encompasses a whole of creative talent. If you are a fan of creating video content, then this app is a must visit.