Update – June 16, 2022: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that Instagram is will begin testing a new version of full-screen feed and changes to the navigation bar that will bring shortcuts for creating a post and accessing messages.
Regarding this, Mark Zuckerberg, said:
We want to make it easier to discover content and connect with friends.
Photos are still an important part of Instagram, and we’re working on ways to improve the way they show up in a full-screen Feed too. Some people will start seeing this test soon. Excited to hear your feedback!
Earlier: Instagram has announced that it has started testing full-screen photos and videos in the main Home feed that will offer an immersive viewing experience. This is similar TikTok which only has videos, just like the Instagram Reels.
With this, you will still be able to use the bottom navigation bar that has discovery tab, Reels, shopping and your account, but you just see one photo or video covering the whole screen. Even though the screenshot shared by the company doesn’t show Stories, it will likely be on the top of the feed, since this might be a post in the middle.
Since the full screen feature is in the testing stage, everyone might not get the feature, and might roll out randomly over the next few weeks.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri, said:
We know the future of video and the future of photos are mobile-first. They are 9 by 16. They are immersive. And so, what you’ll see is us testing out taller photos and taller videos in your feed. So, we’re going to try and learn as much as we can over the next few weeks.
We are trying to figure out how to advance Instagram forward in a world where more and more people are going to be mobile-first.