- Instagram is experimenting with a new full-screen mode for its feed.
- Users will be able to watch videos nearly totally full screen when browsing through their feed.
- The company says photos are still an important part of Instagram, but they’re no longer the app’s focus.
Instagram is experimenting with a new full-screen mode for its feed as well as an updated navigation bar in the hopes of making content more discoverable and immersive on the platform. According to Meta spokesperson Seine Kim, the test has been rolled out to “a limited number of people.” It is the company’s latest attempt to compete with TikTok in the social video space.
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You’ll be able to watch videos nearly totally full screen when you browse through your feed if you’re a member of that group (the navigation bar will still appear underneath them). The description will show down the bottom, along with buttons to favourite and comment on the video, and the Instagram logo and other top buttons will appear floating above the top.
The corporation has already experimented with full-screen feeds. It trialed a design last month that was designed to promote videos, but it still included white bars at the top and bottom of the screen. It also largely left the main navigation bar at the bottom alone, but the firm says it plans to test shortcuts for creating posts and messages there.
The experimental UI appears to be another another move by Instagram to stay competitive with TikTok. While Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, stated in a story about the test that photos “are still an important part of Instagram” and that the company is working to make them more compatible with a full-screen feed, Instagram’s leadership has made it clear that still images are no longer the app’s focus.
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My colleague Alex Heath recently revealed that Meta is making adjustments to the algorithms behind Facebook and Instagram’s feeds in a bid to stay relevant to how younger people use social networks.
Correction, June 16th, 3:10 p.m. ET: The comment regarding photographs remaining a significant component of Instagram was wrongly attributed to a Meta representative in the original version of this story. Mark Zuckerberg is the source of the quote. We apologise for the oversight.
