Instagram is testing a new look that makes the app look even more like TikTok. This Meta-owned app is testing a new feed with a fuller screen view.
Upon opening the Instagram app, users are greeted by a vertical feed of content with a 9:16 ratio designed to make video the main focus.
Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri directly confirmed this trial via a video uploaded on Twitter. It says photos and videos with a higher ratio will start appearing in users' feeds.
Testing Feed Changes
We're testing a new, immersive viewing experience in the main Home feed.
If you're in the test, check it out and let me know what you think. pic.twitter.com/dmM5RzpicQ
— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) May 3, 2022
From the image shared by Instagram showing a feed that fills the screen, like a video display on Reels. Comments, captions, likes, and other buttons are also stacked above the post, no longer at the bottom and separate from the content.
The image doesn't show the Stories bar at the top of the feed. But spokesperson for Meta Seine Kim ensures that the Stories bar will remain at the top of the feed, and that the image will only display the shape of the feed after the user scrolls down.
Meanwhile, the Search, Reels, Shopping, and Profile tabs still remain on the bottom navigation bar. Notifications, messages, and buttons for creating new posts are still at the top, as quoted from The Verge.
Instagram itself recently brought a new change to its main feed. In March, they released two options for displaying content in the feed, namely Following, which only displays content from accounts that users follow in chronological order, and Favorites, which displays content from users' favorite accounts.
Instagram also announced several new initiatives and features to encourage creators to switch from TikTok to Reels. For example, by offering cash bonuses to creators who make Reels content popular, as well as testing the Templates feature which allows creators to use existing Reels formats for their content.
