Instagram at an event in San Francisco has finally announced the IGTV standalone application for watching long-form, vertical video from your favorite Instagram creators just as reported. As the name suggests, you’ll also be able to watch long-form videos within the Instagram app so the entire community of one billion can use it from the very start.
Unlike the typical Instagram videos which are less than 1 minute and are horizontal, the new IGTV offers are full screen and vertical, and each video can be up to an hour long. IGTV starts playing as soon as you open the app and you don’t have to search to start watching content from people you already follow on Instagram. From the same screen, you can swipe up to discover more content creators, switch between “For You,” “Following,” “Popular” and “Continue Watching.” You can also like, comment and send videos to friends in Direct.
IGTV also has channels; the creators are the channels, and when you follow a creator on Instagram, their IGTV channel will show up for you to watch. Anyone can upload their own long-form videos and become a creator. Instagram also announced that it is now a community of one billion. IGTV is currently rolling out, and the app is available for both Android and iOS.