Tiktok Slideshow option not showing up

I'm struggling creating a tiktok slideshow on my phone, as immediately after selecting my images, tiktok converts them to this auto-swiping video, which obviously isn't what I want. I looked up a bunch of videos surrounding the topic, making me realize, the video-image switch-button is missing completely.

I tried some potential solutions already, including 1: clearing the app cache & saved data 2: re-installing tiktok completely 3: checking all of my alts, and they are all missing the option 4: trying the tiktok studio app, same issue there 5: trying the tiktok lite app, but it's completely blocked in Germany 6: opening tiktok in BlueStacks, which was missing the option as well ... and some stuff I can't remember.

I used to be able to create slide shows, as I created one back in 2023, and haven't checked since.

To mention my system components, my phone is a Google Pixel 6a, running on Android 15.

If you have any idea how to resolve this, or experienced similar issues, please let me know.