Instagram is testing out a new full-screen mode for its feed and an updated navigation bar in hopes of making content on the platform more discoverable and immersive. The test, which has been rolled out to âa limited number of people,â according to Meta spokesperson Seine Kim, is the latest effort from the company to compete with TikTok when it comes to social video.
If youâre a part of that group, youâll be able to see videos almost entirely full screen as you scroll through your feed (the navigation bar will still appear underneath them). The description, as well as buttons that let you favorite or comment on the video, will appear along the bottom, and the Instagram logo and other top buttons will appear floating above the top.
Gif: Instagram
Videos in your feed will now display more full-screen than before if youâre part of the test.
The company has experimented with full screen on the feed before. Last month, it tested a design meant to highlight videos, though that still had white bars on the top and bottom of the screen. It also left the main navigation bar at the bottom mostly unchanged, whereas the company says itâs planning on also testing shortcuts for creating a post or message there.
The experimental UI seems like yet another thing Instagram is doing to try and remain competitive with TikTok. While Kim said that photos âremain an important part of Instagramâ and that the company is working on making them more compatible with a full-screen feed, Instagramâs leadership has made it clear that still images arenât the focus of the app anymore. The push to be more like TikTok isnât just skin-deep either; my colleague Alex Heath recently reported that Meta is making changes to the algorithms underlying Facebook and Instagramâs feeds in an attempt to stay relevant to how younger people use social networks.