Instagram revamps app, adds dedicated Reels and Shop tabs to home screen

Instagram has come up with changes to its home screen after many years. The company has announced that it will now add the Shop and Reels tab to its home screen, which currently seems to be a priority for Instagram. The latest update would make finding new Reels creators and their videos in the app easier for users. It is to note that Reels- the short video making and sharing feature was introduced in India shortly after TikTok was banned by the government. Apart from this, the company is also adding the Shop tab that will allow users to view personalized recommendations and editors’ picks. These will be curated by the shoppable videos, shop channel, and new product collections. The idea is to make the experience of finding shoppable items and reels seamless.

As the two new options are being introduced by Instagram, the Likes tab (where users check follow requests and likes) along with as well as the Create tab (from where users upload new posts) will be moved to the top right-hand corner of the homepage. Users can find these options next to the direct messages inbox.

Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, in a blog post, said, “We don’t take these changes lightly – we haven’t updated Instagram’s home screen in a big way for quite a while. But how people create and enjoy culture has changed, and the biggest risk to Instagram is not that we change too fast, but that we don’t change and become irrelevant.” He added that the new changes are expected to provide a fresh design to the app while maintaining its simplicity.

With the introduction of a separate tab for Reels, it can be expected that the company is betting on its recent development. While IGTV is also there, it is for long format videos while Reels is set to take on the TikTok videos.