News & Reviews:   Instagram Reels

Ever thought of watching Instagram Reels while doing something else? That hasn't been a thing before, but Instagram has been testing several new features and among them is a picture-in-picture (PiP) mode.

Are you a TikTok enjoyer? Do you visit Instagram just to watch Reels? If that's you, here is news that may interest you. Although nothing has been confirmed, there's a possibility that Instagram Reels could become a separate app.

The limitations in video editing features will certainly make the creativity and fun of video editing less interesting. Previously, Instagram only allowed one song to be included in one Reel. Now, improvements have been made by them to improve the user experience. Thus, through an update made by Instagram recently, it allows as many as 20 different song tracks to be included in one Reel.

In an era where online content consists of regurgitated memes, short-form video platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels see lots of unoriginal content. But the latter wants to change that by updating the algorithm for video recommendation in Reels.

Social media is all about short videos nowadays, thanks to TikTok. With that said, other platforms like YouTube and Instagram had also quickly jumped on the bandwagon with YouTube Shorts and Reels respectively. Now, it seems like Twitter will be the latest to join the gang by rolling out a feature that offers an "ever-scrolling feed of video content".

If you're an Instagram content creator, here's some good news. In case you haven't heard, Instagram just got an upgrade to Stories. Previously, you could only upload clips of up to 15 seconds. But with the new update, creators can now upload videos 4 times the length.

Recently, a lot of Instagram users on iOS have been complaining about a bug in the app which plays Instagram Stories with sound on by default even if your iPhone is set to silent mode. Now, the Meta-owned social media platform has finally fixed the issue with the latest update to the app.

Meta has been introducing new features on its social media platforms recently in an effort to compete with TikTok, including implementing a new way to create Instagram Reels using previously shared Stories. Now, Meta is allowing users to cross-post their Instagram Reels to Facebook and even permitting users to take advantage of the monetisation programmes offered on both platforms by using the same content.

It looks like Instagram has given up on its attempt to capture the long-form video market following the company’s move to kill off the IGTV standalone app. In an official blog post on Monday (28 February 2022), Instagram confirmed that it is discontinuing support for the IGTV app thus ending the service as a whole. RIP!

Short videos have become a thing, but maybe too short isn't enough for a lot of people. There's a demand for slightly longer short videos, with TikTok allowing for uploads of up to 3 minutes last year. Instagram is also planning to expand the length of Instagram Reels soon.