Instagram Overhauls Experience for Reels
Instagram is testing a new design that prioritizes its Reels short-form video format to better compete with TikTok. The company is also set to launch a dedicated TV app for Google TV devices, extending its video focus into the living room. Amid user complaints of "feed fatigue," Instagram now advises users on how to manually reset their recommendation algorithm.
- The new Instagram TV app for Google TV and Amazon Fire TV is designed for passive viewing, automatically playing Reels in a continuous stream organized by categories like comedy and music, mimicking a traditional channel-surfing experience. - The push toward a Reels-centric feed is backed by data showing users were already spending 50% of their time on Instagram watching Reels as of late 2024, with 3.5 billion Reels being shared daily across Meta's platforms. - Tests for a design that opens the app directly into the Reels feed began in India, with Instagram head Adam Mosseri noting that Reels and DMs have been the primary drivers of the platform's growth for the past few years. - To give users more control over the algorithm, the redesigned Reels feed is testing a "Your Feeds" center, which includes options to view content from accounts you are "Following," from "Friends," or in "Latest" chronological order. - The maximum length for Reels was recently increased from 90 seconds to three minutes, a move designed to help creators share more detailed and longer-form stories. - Despite some user complaints about the "TikTok-ification" of the platform, Instagram's strategy is showing results in the battle for market share; it surpassed TikTok in new app downloads in 2023 for the first time since 2020. - The expansion into the living room places Instagram in more direct competition with YouTube, which has a dominant position on connected TVs. - As of September 2025, Instagram had reportedly reached 3 billion monthly active users, growing from 2 billion in October 2022.
