Part of that success is how easy it is just to jump in and start watching videos catered to your specific interests. But if you take the time to dig a little deeper you’ll find there are a variety of features and settings that can enhance your TikTok experience in all kinds of ways. If you tap on a hashtag at the bottom of any video, you’ll see recent matches for it, but you can also save it by tapping Add to Favorites. This creates a shortcut to that specific hashtag you can access by going to your Profile, tapping the bookmark icon, and then Hashtags. You can also find trending hashtags by opening the Discover tab. To search for a particular label, tap the magnifying glass icon up in the top-right corner of the screen. You can usually be very specific—you’d be surprised at just how many hashtags there are out there on the platform. If you need inspiration for finding related hashtags (or coming up with more to add to your own videos), try the Hashtag Generator for TikTok online, where you can type the name of a label and the platform will show you a list of similar ones you can use and tell you how popular they are. When you’re watching the relevant video, tap on the share button on the right (it’s an arrow icon), then pick Share as GIF. Using the timeline at the bottom, you’ll then be able to select up to five seconds of the video to convert into the memeable format. Tap on Generate and the app will save the GIF to the gallery on your phone. You get the option of sharing the GIF to another app (such as WhatsApp or Instagram) right away, but you don’t have to do this immediately, as TikTok saves the file locally on your phone. Tap the Profile tab, then the menu button (three lines, top right), then pick Data Saver. If you turn on the Data Saver toggle switch, then TikTok will reduce the bandwidth it uses and display videos at a lower resolution. This should mean less buffering on weak cellular connections, but you can use it where you have a strong cellular link as well if you want to limit the data that you’re using when you’re out and about. When you’re on the TikTok creation screen, tap the Upload button next to the record button, which will take you to your phone’s gallery. Tap Photos, then Select multiple, and you can pick them from the gallery in the order you’d like to add them to your slideshow. Tap Next, and you can preview how your clip is looking, before deciding on any captions, mentions or hashtags that you’d like to add. You’ll also see all the usual upload options there. Tap Post to send the slideshow to your feed. When you’re on the recording screen inside the TikTok app, tap on the Effects button to the left of the record button. The first two effects are static and animated backgrounds, and the app will automatically apply them behind whatever is in the foreground of the shot (usually, you). You can use one of the backdrops that TikTok provides, or you can pick something from your own phone gallery by browsing through the thumbnails just above the effects box. Once you’ve made your pick, you can record your video as normal. The next screen that pops up will let you set daily screen time limits, configure reminders to take breaks from the app, and show you how much time you’ve been spending on TikTok lately. You can override these settings without too much of a problem—they’re locked by a PIN code, which you set yourself—but they can help prompt you to keep your TikTok use within reasonable limits. As there’s PIN code protection, you can also use the same features to restrict what your kids are doing in the app, provided that they’re happy to give you access to their phone to set them up, of course. You can set all of this up by opening your Profile, tapping the menu button (three lines, top right), then choosing Settings and privacy, and then Privacy. Turn on the top toggle switch, Private account, and only approved followers will be able to see your videos. If you don’t want people to easily find you on TikTok (by contacts you have on Facebook, or by people who have your cell number, for example), you can control this through the Suggest your account to others option. Further down the privacy page you can set who is allowed to leave comments on your videos (the Comments menu), and who can mention and tag you (Mentions and tags). There are also options for controlling who can add your posts to their stories, and who can see your liked videos.
