Instagram is testing full-screen “large” photos and videos in the home feed

Instagram is testing a new feed experience in its “home” section.

The Meta-owned photo-sharing platform is testing full-screen vertical feeds in the “home,” where photos and videos take up more of the screen.

“We’re moving Instagram to a place where video is a bigger part of the home experience where content is more immersive and takes up more screen space,” Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said in a video posted to social networks.

“We’re starting to experiment this week, which is a test where photos and video take up more of your screen. We know the future of video and the future of photos is mobile first. They’re 9×16. They’re immersive, and so what you’ll see is that we’re testing photos and videos higher up in your feed,” Mosseri explained.

According to an image shared by the platform, users who are part of the test will see a welcome feed with a full-screen post with comments, captions, likes and other features appearing at the top of the post.

Seine Kim, a spokesperson for Meta, quoted by The edge, said “stories” will be accessible at the top of a user’s screen. The full-screen post will appear when they scroll through the feed while searching, a user’s “reels”, purchases and profile will still be accessible using the buttons at the bottom of the screen.

Notifications, messages and new posting features will remain on top, along with the ability to switch between accounts, according to the report.

Still images and video posts will also be integrated into the full-screen feed, the spokesperson said.

The platform has been bullish on its short Reels video format. In April, Instagram said it would reward “original content” by changing its algorithm to rank it higher than reposted content.

Instagram is also beta testing “Templates,” a feature that will allow Reels creators to use the formats of other videos on the platform.

Published on

May 04, 2022