TikTok Rolls Out Standalone 'Microdrama' Platform PineDrama

TikTok Rolls Out Standalone ‘Microdrama’ Platform PineDrama

Last updated: 2026/01/18 at 8:39 AM

News Room Published 18 January 2026

TikTok is pivoting to an emerging genre known as “microdrama” with its latest move: serialized, ultra-short video series designed for mobile viewing, with each episode often between 60 and 90 seconds. The short-form video giant has now rolled out a new standalone app in the US and Brazil called PineDrama, dedicated to this type of attention-span-friendly content.

If series like Love at First Bite and The Officer Fell for Me sound like your kind of thing, the PineDrama app is currently available to download on Google Play and the iOS App Store. TikTok appears to have taken a relatively quiet approach to the launch. The new app was first spotted by Business Insider, with no major official announcement accompanying it.

Though PineDrama is separate from the main TikTok app, you will be able to use your existing TikTok login to sign in. At present, all the content is free, with no subscription or extra costs attached. The layout of the new app also seems broadly similar to TikTok’s. You can scroll through vertical videos based on what the algorithm thinks will interest you, or use the “Discover” tab to browse “All” and “Trending” content.

As Business Insider notes, it is not entirely clear how or if TikTok plans to eventually monetize the platform. Existing microdrama platforms, such as DramaBox and ReelShort, let users watch a few episodes of a series before asking them to subscribe to view the rest.

The microdrama trend, which first came to prominence in China, seems to finally be catching on in the West. According to research from consultancy Owl & Co, short-drama apps were projected to make $3 billion in worldwide revenue (excluding China) in 2025, triple their revenue in 2024. Some microdramas have racked up impressive viewership numbers. ReelShort’s most popular title, The Double Life of My Billionaire Husband, received almost 500 million views, according to Owl & Co, though most series get nowhere near that much.

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You could be seeing the word “microdrama” a lot more soon. According to a report from The Guardian published in December 2025, many major players in the film and TV industry are exploring the genre as a way to deal with soaring production costs.